GX Rewrite: The Four Stars
by Dusk Mind
Summary: (AU-Rewrite) Duel Academia is a highly prestigious school for young people to become Professional Duelists. Follow Judai Yuki as he becomes a student in here, and slowly starts to discover the mysteries behind the island and his past. Yu-Gi-Oh! GX rewrite, with elements from both anime and manga, as also new storylines. SenseiShipping (JudaixMidori), a few OC s, complete-rewrite.
1. Prologue Duel Academia

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or anything in any way; except for a few OC´s, and stuff.**

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><p><strong>So, yet another story, guys. As if I dont have enough in my hands... but as long as I´m writing, it´s Ok, right? Anyway. I´ve spent quite a lot of time watching all of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and then also read the manga, and then I just suddenly decided to write yet another fic. However, unlike some of my other stories, I am writing a complete rewrite of a series. An entire AU, however, more than an actual revamped rewrite, or a fix-fic (even thought, boy does this series have quite a few things to fix). So, what to expect? Well, stories and characters from both continuities, appropriate use of interesting characters (Misawa, O´Brien, Jim, Midori) and good duels. Expect a lot of character development and a little drama here and there. I´ll try to not write anyone OOC (expect for a few cases which is intentional), and they will have traits from both continuities, so there is plenty of room for character development.<strong>

**Romance? Heck yeah, but it wont be the central point; at least at the beginning. Mostly because: 1) I like to take my time to develop things, and 2) I wanted to try a JudaixMidori fic. You know, for a change. God know there arent enough JudaixAsuka or yaoi ships out there *sarcasm*. Thought I like JudaixAsuka... nah, I´ll just pair her with someone else. ****Also, even thought there will be OC´s, they wont be the main characters, mostly, important supporting characters. You can consider them as just part of the gang and that´s it. Also, I love to get wordy and write drama... you´ve been warned.**

**So, let´s get to the important stuff:**

***This is a JudaixMidori fic. The history will mostly revolve around dueling, with their relationship as something I will develop in-between. However, dont expect this to be only about those two, as I will also feature heavily on all the other characters.**

***This will include characters from both the anime and the manga. I will use the japanese names, and not the english ones. I will mix a few traits of characters, mostly back-stories and origin place (which means, if they are japanese, americans, or from somewhere else).**

***I will include characters from the Original series, but they will play mostly minor and supporting roles at the beginning. However, the reason I included them will be explained once I get into the main part of the plot. It could take a while.**

***I will use Traditional rules, which means every Forbidden card will instead be Limited. However, it´s not as if I will spam huge cards out of the blue, mostly the typical Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity and a few monsters that I will probably need, for example, Destiny-HERO Disk Commander for Edo. And some evil cards and stuff every once in a while. You know the drill.**

** *I will tweak the decks of some of the people in the show. Also, no Synchro or Xyz summons. Those are 5D´s and ZEXAL´s gimmicks. At least at the beginning; if I include Tuner and Synchro Summons, it will be later in the history, maybe when I run out of ideas for new deck gimmicks or as something new that affects everything. Not right off the bat.**

*** I will use the English card names, and the OCG effects, so no anime-only effects. I dont think I will use too many anime-only or manga-only cards. ****I dont think I will create new cards... but you never know. Anyway, dont expect a lot of them.**

***OC´s will be in here. I will try not to create Sues or anything. Some of them will have cards and decks that werent present back when GX aired, but I want to use. Same rule as Tuner, Synchro and Xyz summon applies, however.**

**Now that all is said, let´s get it done.**

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><p>GX REWRITE: THE FOUR STARS<p>

CHAPTER 1: PROLOGUE; DUEL ACADEMIA

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><p><em>Duel Academia. A prestigious and exclusive institute where talented young men and women are educated in order to become professional duelists after their graduation. Created by Seto Kaiba, this school is known by its strict and professional teaching methods, and how graduating in this place practically guarantees a spot in the Professional Leagues.<em>

_Due to its renown name and the skill of those who come out from the place, the entrance exams are know for their harsh and difficult barriers, in order to allow the entry only for those with enough skills to make it through them. These exams consist of two different stages. Written exams and Practical exams. _

_The written exams consist of difficult questions in order to determine the amount of knowledge of each student. Only those very few who complete their written exams, who are more often that not around 150, are allowed to take part in the Practical Exams. _

_In order to allow people from all over Japan to be able to take the entrance exams, the Practical Exams are done in a single place, where aspirants arrive in order to take their exams. This place is none other than Domino City, a city know for its relevance in the importance of Dueling History. The location is Kaiba Land, which is property of Kaiba Corp. the company that owns this prestigious school. _

_In here, the Practical Exams consist of a Duel against one of the Examiners, who are people working for the Academy. These examiners have pre-built decks in order to test the examinees appropriately. __However..._

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><p>The entire crowd set their eyes in one of the central arenas. The last duel was being held in it. However, this duel was different than the others. As for the applicant had arrived late to take the exam, due to a train accident on his way to the city. At first sight, there was nothing out of the normal with him. A young man, with two-toned brown hair, wearing a red shirt and a black jacket, with blue pants and red shoes. He sported a normal Duel Disk on his left arm. Judai Yuki, entrant #110 (which is his spot according to his entrance exam), who despite his upbeat aura, had a small frown on his face.<p>

The instructor opposing him is what captured the attention of the public, however. Professor Chronos de Medicci, a tall, thin and bizarre man, with long blonde hair into a ponytail, greenish pale skin, sporting a blue coat and a high-quality Duel Disk tied to both his arm and his chest. Feeling that a no-name like this kid dared to make it late to the entrance exams; he felt as if he needed to personally crush this little Drop-out boy and close the gates for Duel Academia for him all by himself. With his own deck.

In the field, there is but only one monster: **Ancient Gear Golem (Earth/Lv. 8/Machine-Type/****ATK 3000****/DEF 3000)**. Chronos´s most powerful and known card, while Judai himself had no cards in his field.

**Judai´s LP: 1000**

**Chronos´s LP: 3000**

"So tell me, Drop-out b- I mean... Signor-Judai." chimed the instructor towards the younger duelist. "Ready to give up?"

"Are you kidding?" smiled Judai, facing his opponent. "To think that you are going all-out on me, it only makes me more excited about this duel!"

The audience gasped to such a bold statement. To think that a random boy had the nerve to say such a thing to an expert duelist was something unheard of.

"_Why?! You little... that is not what I meant! Na no ne!_" cursed internally Chronos, grinding his teeth.

"This doesnt look good." said a short teen somewhere else, with bushy ash-blue hair, and small glasses on his face. He was wearing a black middle school uniform. "That card is way too powerful, he cant fight against a monster with an ATK of 3000!"

"Not only that." added another middle school student; tall, with brown haired combed to the back and a grey uniform. "The ability of that Golem allows him to deal the difference between his ATK and the DEF of the monster it just destroyed. So he cant even try to stall by defending, because that could cost him the duel."

"No way! What can he do now?" asked the shorter student.

"Well, if Mister Number 1 here is as good as he says, he should be able to figure something out." added the taller student.

"Even if you call him that, he scored at number 110..." added the shorter one, sweatdropping.

Back at the Arena, Judai prepared for his turn. "My turn! Draw!" he said, as he drew a card. **Winged Kuriboh**. "Oh! There you are, partner!" smiled Judai. "Ready to battle?"

"_Kuri-Kuri!_" answered his monster, thanks to the spirit residing in his card.

"All right, then!" said Judai. "I summon **Winged Kuriboh (Light/Lv. 1/Fairy-Type/ATK 300/DEF 200)** in Defense Mode!" The projection of a small brown fur ball, with green pawns and white wings. The image of its card shown the monster was defending. "Then, I set two face-down cards and end my turn."

"Heh! Giving up already, na no ne?" snarked Chronos. He then drew a card to begin his turn, but didnt even glance at it. "All right, then! **Ancient Gear Golem**, destroy that small fry and finish him! Ultimate Pound!"

The Golem launched a powerful punch towards the small monster, destroying it. "I guess that settles it, right?" asked Chronos, smugly. However, he noticed that Judai´s Life Points didnt go any lower. "Huh? How come you still havent lost, no ne?"

"Sorry, Professor." replied Judai, "But in the turn that my **Winged Kuriboh** is destroyed, any damage I receive to my Life Points this turn becomes 0."

"What!?" asked Chronos, both furious and embarrassed. However, he quickly composed himself. "Hmph! All that runt did was to delay the inevitable. Next turn, I´ll crush you. Na no ne." spit Chronos to Judai.

"Hey! Winged Kuriboh is my partner! Dont call him a runt!" protested Judai.

"What is the problem in calling runt to a runt?" mocked Chronos. "After all, it is only a weak card and nothing else, Na no ne."

"He might not be that strong, but he is still my partner, and he saved me!" growled Judai, "And thanks to him, I can now turn the duel around! Reverse card, activate! **Hero Signal**!"

A light was then shot towards the roof of the building, in which an "H" was in the middle of it. "I can activate this Trap card when one of my monsters is destroyed." explained Judai. "I can then Special-Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Elemental HERO" from my deck!"

He then took his deck and chose a card from it. "And I Special-Summon **Elemental HERO Woodsman (Earth/Lv. 4/Warrior-Type/ ATK 1000/ DEF 2000)** in Defense Position!" Then a humanoid monster with green skin on its left half, with wood covering his right side, guarding itself. It was an Elemental HERO, one of the cards Judai had revealed beforehand during the duel.

"Tch!" spat Chronos. "I finish my turn, then."

"He saved himself!" said excited the younger student from before.

"Yeah, but it will have been all for nothing if he doesnt draw something good." added the taller middle-schooler. "_It all depends on whether he can pull out a miracle or not by drawing his next card._"

"All right, my turn then! Draw!" said Judai as he drew a card. "But before that, the Monster effect of **Woodsman** activates. During my Stand-by phase, it allows me to add 1 **Polymerization** from my deck into my hand." Judai then picked the card, and shuffled his deck. "Next, I activate **Pot of Greed**, which allows me to draw 2 cards." Judai looked at the cards in his hand, and then smiled. "I activate **The Warrior Returning Alive**! It allows me to return 1 Warrior-type monster from the Graveyard to my hand, and I choose **Elemental HERO Avian**!"

"Now, I summon **Elemental HERO Avian (Wind/Lv. 3/Warrior-Type/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) **in Attack position." The figure of a man with a full-body green costume, with long wings on his back appeared. "All right, professor. You were kind enough to show me your Ace Card!" said Judai. "It´s time I showed you my Ace Card!"

"Huh?" asked Chronos.

"I use **Polymerization**! I´ll send the **Elemental HERO Woodsman** in the Field, and the **Elemental HERO Ocean **in my hand, to call out my most trusted monster!" yelled Judai, activating his card.

"Come forth! **Elemental HERO Terra Firma (Earth/Lv. 8/Warrior-Type/ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**!" yelled Judai. A large, towering human figure appeared in the field. A white and muscular being, which held greenish blue gem rocks in the top of his head and his shoulders. He also had a red stone in his chest.

The whole place went silent. Especially those who knew about the card. "That card... it´s impossible." said the brown haired student from before.

"What do you mean?" asked the shorter one.

"That card... it is a One-of-a-kind card. Which means, there is supposed to be only one copy of it in the world." replied the student. "And to think that he has it."

"That card..." stuttered Chronos, not believing his eyes. "St-still! Its ATK power isnt enough to even scratch my Golem!"

"This isnt over yet, Professor!" grinned Judai. "I activate the effect of **Terra Firma**! By sending 1 face-up "Elemental HERO" in the field to the Graveyard, I can increase the ATK of **Terra Firma** by the ATK of that monster! So, I´ll tribute **Elemental HERO Avian** in order to increase the ATK of **Terra Firma **by 1000 points!"

Avian then disappeared and a green light enveloped Elemental HERO Terra Firma, increasing its ATK points to 3500. "**Terra Firma**! Destroy **Ancient Gear Golem! **Final Magma Strike!" commanded Judai, and his Ace Monster launched itself towards the machine Monster, destroying it.

"O Dio!" yelled Chronos, at a lack of words. "My strongest monster! Defeated so easily!"

**Chrono´s LP: 3000-2500**

**Judai´s LP: 1000**

"Still! I have more Life Points that you have! Next turn, I will make you pay!" grunted Chronos, fumming from rage.

"Sorry, but that´s not gonna happen." intervened Judai. "Reverse Card, activate!" The other face-down card Judai had in the field showed itself, to reveal the Spell Card **De-Fusion**.

"Mamma Mia!" exclaimed Chronos.

"Thanks to this card, I can return a Fusion Monster to its original state, and Special Summon the monsters that I used to combine him. Therefore, I can bring to the field both **Elemental HERO Woodsman (Earth/ Lv. 4/Warrior-Type/ATK 1000/DEF 2000) **and **Elemental HERO Ocean (Water/Lv. 4/Warrior-Type/ATK 1500/DEF 1200)**!"

"No way! No Ne!" exclaimed Chronos.

"Now!" yelled Judai, closing his fist towards Chronos, "I use both my monsters for a Direct-Attack!" Both monsters then launched themselves, attacking Chronos, decreasing his Life Points to 0.

**Chrono´s LP: 2500-0**

**Judai´s LP: 1000 (Winner)**

"No!" yelled Chronos in frustration, "Defeated by this kid! I can´t believe it! Na no ne!"

"Yeah! I made it!" celebrated Judai into the air. "I´m going to Duel Academia!"

"Whoa! He did it!" said the shorter kid from before. "That was amazing!"

"Ye-yeah..." said the taller one. "_What an incredible drawing. To think that not only was he able to draw Pot of Greed, but also, after shuffling his deck, drawing the cards he needed to Fusion-Summon that monster. And that card..._"

"Gotcha!" said Judai, pointing two fingers towards Chronos, "That sure was a fun duel!"

_However, what Judai Yuki hadnt realized yet was that thanks to his victory, he had earned the attention of many._

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><p><em>The location of Duel Academia is special, as this place is located in a separate island, which consists of the main setting of the school in the middle of a dense jungle in the isle. The campus however, is separated in two: Middle and High School. Middle School entry exams are hard not only for their difficulty, but also because most of the people who are admitted in here need either a strong background in Dueling (something hard for their age), family influences, or a wealthy background. Therefore, for the largest population of people from around the country, the easiest way to enter the academy is through the strict High School entry exams.<em>

_Despite the fact that both Middle School and High School share the same island, both campus are separate. However, interaction between both of them isnt impossible or is strongly forbidden; which allows for both campus to be able to interact between each other. The Middle School is run normally as any other school; however, the High School System is more complex._

_Every new student in the High School Campus of Duel Academia is placed in different dorms, created in order to keep track of the students according to their accomplishments. Those three dorms are as follows:_

_* Obelisk Blue: The place where the most talented duelist are placed. Only those students who graduated from the Academia´s Middle School with good scores can become Obelsik Blue´s students at the beginning of the year.  
><em>

_*Ra Yellow: The second most important dorm. Those who approved the entry exams with flying colors, and those from Middle School with decent grades belong to this dorm._

_*Osiris Red: The dorm for those students with close-to-failing grades, and academic and attitude problems._

_However, it is still possible for students to change dorms while approving classes or even mid-semester, depending on their performance and dueling aptitudes._

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><p>Obelisk Blue - Boys Dorms<p>

_The Obelisk Blue Dorms, more than Dormitories, resemble a 5 Star Hotel. A huge building, next to a beautiful lake, painted in blue. The individual dormitories are spacious and comfortable for each student, and the interior held incredibly luxurious ornaments. At the moment, the students and teachers were having a toast and celebration for the upcoming year, with gourmet food and beverages._

"Cheers!" said Chronos, as he raised a cup signaling everyone for a toast, "for an upcoming year filled with excellence!"

"Even if he says that, wasnt he the guy who lost against a rookie with his own deck?" said a tall student, with a somewhat feminine voice.

"I heard the guy who beat him was placed in Osiris Red. Talk about adding salt to the injury." said another tall student, with tan skin and brown hair.

"What are you talking about?" asked another student, with spiky black hair. "That kid only had a lucky draw, that´s it. Once I beat that rookie, everyone will stop even thinking about him."

"Way to go, Manjoume-san!" said the tan student.

"That´s right!" said the another student. "We can´t allow a loser-Red take away the credit of Majoume-san!"

"_However, if the rumors are true, and that drop-out has THAT card..._" thought Manjoume to himself.

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><p>Obelisk Blue - Girls Dorms<p>

_The Obelisk Blue Dorms are divided between both men and women. The girls have their own dorm, separated from the rest. The facilities are almost identical to the Boys Dormitories, however, placed afar in order to give them more privacy._

"Are you girls enjoying your admission party?" said a female teacher, with reddish brown hair, a long strand of hair to her right, to three of her students. Emi Ayukawa, headmaster of the Girls Dorms for Obelisk Blue. She wore a traditional white jacket with blue details open on her chest, with a pink one-piece dress that reached just below her waist-line.

"Yes, we are having a great time!" chimed the first-year girl, with messy brown hair in spikes that reached her shoulders. She used only a normal uniform typical of Obelisk Blues, a white sleeveless shirt, with a short blue skirt and blue boots.

"Even if I´d like it better if there were any cute boys." added another girl with long black hair, braided to her neck, the rest flowing in curvy spikes below her shoulders. Her uniform was the same as the previous girl.

"Junko, Momoe... Please dont embarrass me on our first day at the academy." added another tall, blonde girl with long hair. She used the same uniform as the other girls.

"Don´t be so mean, Asuka-sama!" said Junko, the first girl. "Arent you interested in any guy that has entered the academy?"

"No, I´m not." said Asuka, the blonde girl, crossing her arms seriously.

"Asuka-sama is always so serious." said Momoe, the black-haired girl. "You know, there are very strong duelists that entered this year!"

"There is Daichi Misawa, the Number #1 freshman this year. Shame he is in Ra Yellow, thought." added Junko.

"I also heard someone defeated Chronos-sensei in his entrance exam!" said Momoe, "And with a very rare card, too."

"Really?" asked Asuka. This was certainly an interesting bit of news.

"I´m pretty sure he might be one of the best Ra Yellow students this year." added Momoe.

"Actually," intervened Emi, "that boy was actually placed in Osiris Red."

"Huh?" asked all three girls.

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><p>Ra Yellow<p>

_The Ra Yellow Dormitories, if not as fancy as the Blue Dorms, were equiped with most of the things one expect to find in a luxurious apartment. The dormitories are smaller, and the food is a classy buffet, instead of the gourmet delicaciess at the Blue Dorms. Unlike the Blue Dorms, however, both male and female students share the building; and most of them are more than happy to be in the same party.  
><em>

"What do you mean he was placed in Slifer Red?" asked Daichi Misawa, the brown-haired student that had seen Judai´s duel. "He defeated a teacher! He should have made it to Ra Yellow!" he was wearing now white pants, and a yellow jacket with white details.

"Hey rookie! Don´t yell at me!" replied another student, tall with short, spiky black hair. He was dressed just as Misawa, except that his jacket was open, showing a black t-shirt. He had a round, white pendant on his neck, with a blue gem on it. His name was Shinichi Ueda, a second-year student. "That is what I was able to overhear a few teachers talking, anyway. Well, I´d doubt they´d allow any student that defeated one member of their teachers to be praised that much unless he is a Senior or something. Especially if he beat Chronos, that guy can be a sneaky snake."

"Tch." said the other student.

"What´s the big deal with that guy, anyway?" asked Shinichi. "I mean, he cant be that good. He was placed in Slifer Red for a reason, right?"

"That is what I want to find out." replied Misawa.

"Huh?" asked Shinichi.

"He was able to defeat Chronos. But was it a fluke? A lucky draw? Or is he really that skilled?" asked Misawa (rhetorically, so Shinichi didnt answer). "He seems to me to be different that most duelists. I wanna know who he really is."

"Ehhhh." replied Shinichi, giving an odd but bored look.

"Besides, for a rookie to possess a rare card like he has, it is almost unheard of." said Misawa.

"Rare card?" asked Shinichi.

"Yes." replied Misawa. "It was a really big surprise to see a unique card like that in the deck of a student."

"So he has a rare card? Interesting." smirked Shinichi. Misawa just eyed him suspiciously. Why was he interested so suddenly.

"Huh?" suddenly asked Shinichi, "Arent those girls wearing red?" pointing to a small group of female students with Slifer Red uniforms.

"Yes, they are." replied Misawa.

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><p>Slifer Red<p>

_Unlike the other Dorms, the Slifer Red facilities are but a small building in a cliff, far away in the island. As there aent too many Slifer Red students, the building itself looks like a small department in a small town, with only two floors. The dormitories are small, and three students have to share the place in triple bunkbeds._

The Slifer Red celebration party was similar to the Obelisk Blue in the way that there were no girls. Only 4 girls had entered Slifer Red, but they had been given permission to join Ra Yellow´s party. Therefore, the mood in the main dining room for the "dorms" (as it was nothing more that a cheap rack with various rooms) was gloomy to say the least.

"Why did the girls leave this place?"

"Rather, why only the girls?"

"Are we really that pathetic?"

"Not even our headmaster has appeared."

"We are surely going to be expelled."

Marufuji Sho, the short student with ash-blue hair and glasses from before, was not happy hearing all of this. How could he ever study with such a gloomy bunch. Even if he himself wasnt as confident in his abilities as the others were.

"Stop worrying." told Judai to the shorter student. "We are fine as it is."

"How can you say that?" asked Sho, "We are Slifer Red, it means that we are the bottom of the pillar... that we arent good duelists."

"What are you talking about? We all were admitted, right?" asked Judai, "It only means we have the furthest to advance. Besides, even thought I became Slifer Red, I´m kind of happy." said Judai, smiling. "This is my favorite color, after all."

"Only you could say such a thing, Big Bro." sighed Sho. "Thought I have to admit I´m glad that I was admitted at all."

"See? No need to get down for nothing." said Judai, smiling.

"Is everyone ready-nya?" said a male voice from the kitchen. A tall man with bushy black hair, his closed eyes covered by glasses, wearing a white shirt, a red tie, and holding a chubby cat in his hands came forward. "Oh, you are-nya. Huh? Where are the girls-nya? I´m pretty sure we had a few girls joining this year-nya."

"Sorry, but they asked me to take them to Ra Yellow´s party." said a female voice, entering the dining room from the outside door. "I tried to convince them to stay, but they just wouldnt listen." said the owner of the voice, with an awkward smile. Suddenly, a tall, beautiful woman with long waist-length dark brown hair, dressed up in a red coat, with a red skirt and tall red boots entered the place where all the Slifer Red students were.

Every student suddenly broke its jaw, as they saw the beauty they had as Headmaster. Maybe they were drop-outs, but having a teacher like this might not be that bad after all.

She then headed towards the other teacher, and the two of them faced their students. "Hello, everyone. My name is Midori Hibiki, and I am the headmaster of Slifer Red students during this year."

"My name is Daitokouji, and I too am a headmaster for this dorm-nya." said the male teacher.

"She is really pretty." said Sho in a low voice, a red blush on his face.

"Despite the fact you are here, it doesnt mean you cant improve and become better duelists, as long as you work hard towards your dreams." added Midori, smiling to her students. This caused the spirit of all the students to raise.

Judai smiled. "That´s Midori-neesan for you."

Midori suddenly froze when she heard that voice. She then turned to see the owner of the voice, who was no other than Judai Yuki. "You..?" she said in a low voice.

"Hiya-" tried to say Judai, until Midori suddenly grabbed him by the ear, and pulled him out of the dining room.

"Ouch! That hurts!" exclaimed Judai. "What was that for?"

"Shhh!" motioned Midori to her student. "Ju-chan, dont allow them to hear you."

"Why?" asked Judai.

"Listen. It would be better if people dont know that we are close." explained Midori. "It isnt uncommon for people to create weird rumors in this school, and if they know we had met each other before your entry here they might think I had something to do with your approval."

"Eh? But I wanted to enter to the Academia before you became a teacher in here." explained Judai. "Besides, I still had to take the exams as everyone else."

"I know." said Midori, rubbing her temples "I mean, you even managed to defeat Chronos to enter here, which by the way, is pretty impressive;" said Midori smirking, Judai just grinned in return; "however, it might be better if you just say we get along. We dont have to change the way we have ever acted, but you must remember that now I am your teacher, and we both have responsibilities now."

"It´s OK, I get it." said Judai. "I dont want you to get in troubles or anything, either."

"Good." smiled Midori, "Now, let´s get back then." she pointed behind her. When they entered back to the room, the other Slifer Red students were throwing Judai a jealous, murderous gaze towards Judai.

"Guh- What is up with them?" asked Judai.

Midori couldnt help but giggle. It seemed he would have a good time at the Academy. At least this would dispel the eerie aura surrounding the students.

Judai tried his best to calm his classmates. While doing this, he suddenly remembered something. "_I forgot to ask her about Koyo-san... Better not bother her now._" he thought, his eyes getting suddenly gloomy. "_I can always ask her later__._"

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><p>END CHAPTER 1<p>

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><p><strong>First chapter up. Hope you guys liked it. Building the ship from scratch, as you can see. Now, I can imagine a few of you arent convinced about the idea of a JudaixMidori ship, mostly because of the age difference, but let me assure you: it´s happening, goddammit! and if someone can make it work, it´s me.<strong>

**I also added the small portion of the duel in order to show you guys how I am planning to write every other duel, and to show Judai´s Ace Card. The duel went just as in the anime right until the moment I started to write, but of course, with a different course in here. Also, a few people are missing from the spectators, but there is a reason for that: remember, this isnt a fix-fic or just slightly changed novelization (even if this story is called Rewrite, and the beginning of this chapter could lead you to believe otherwise). **

**I ****will try not to copy exactly any respective duel or episode from either the manga nor the anime, but if I do, then it means that the scene in particular is perfect, or I just couldnt think for a better reason for those people to fight. Also, I know the anime arc is called "Seven Stars", I did that change on purpose. You will all find out later, thought.  
><strong>

**Funny note: Shinichi means "First son", or "Important and unique first born". Ueda means "high", as in important. The name of my OC practically means he is the first OC, and that he is more important than what most other OC´s will be. I just like to give those silly names to my OC´s.**

**Next chapter, Judai will finally gain the attention of everyone at the Academy. Dont forget to comment and review. Please.**

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><p>EDIT: Added a few "nyas" and "na no ne´s". God I hate anime verbal tics. Also, I just recently found Terra Firma´s attack name from the manga: Final Magma Strike. Added it.<p> 


	2. Showing Off

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or anything in any way; except for a few OC´s, and stuff.**

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><p><strong>AN: Second chapter is up. I will finally write an entire duel, and it will be completely original too. Judai against my self-insert OC... this can only end well *sarcasm*. Now, I know that normally, Judai´s first duel is with Manjoume, but this change has a reason to be, believe me. Anyway, it took me a while to decide what deck Shinichi could use, but I think the final decision I made was a good one. I could have chosen many other cool decks, but I think the one I chose can be further developed in future duels, so I decided to pick this one specifically.**

**Now before starting:**

***I´d love it if someone knows where I can find a list of shipping names for the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga, or at least knows the name for JudaixMidori. I have been looking for it, but shamefully, havent found it.**

***As I promised, OCs will be used sparsely, so no need to get mad only for this chapter.**

***There is something I need to add about Dueling and Cards. Whenever I add an "*" in front of a card name (for example Elemental HERO Clayman Guardian*(Earth/Lv. 4/Warrior-Type/ATK 0/DEF 2800)), it means that: 1) either it is an anime-only or manga-only card, or 2) it is an original card I just created. I will also further explain each card with this particularity at the end of each chapter in the Author Notes section. As I promised, I wont use many of them, so there is no need to worry.**

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><p><strong>QA: This is where I answer the questions the reviewers left me. I answer only those comments who have a really significant questions, doubts or suggestions. However, I REALLY DO appreciate any kind of feedback you guys give me.**

**Unidentified Guest 1: I know my works arent 100% grammatically correct. I try my best, but sometimes, a few things do slip by. I´ll try to correct them and avoid them, but dont expect me to stop making a few mistakes here and there. Seems to always happen. I´m not saying I dont care, I´m just saying, dont get too worked up about it.**

**warrior of six blades: I was actually surprised to find so little manga-fics, and especially not a single JudaixMidori fic. Seemed like a good challenge. Especially because it opens the door for many underused shipping possibilities.**

**Unidentified Guest 2: Summon Chants? Man, that would kill me. Especially with Judai: a chant for every Fusion Summon will squeeze every little drop of originality from my brain. And I have very little, believe me. I cant come up with any good ideas myself at the moment, but I can always just add it once I come up with something. It´d be good if people send me recommendations or ideas, cause I got none.**

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><p>GX REWRITE: THE FOUR STARS<p>

CHAPTER 2: SHOWING OFF

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><p>"Good morning, students!" said a booming, imposing, but also kind voice through the microphone. "Allow me, the Principal here at Duel Academia, to give you a warm welcome to our school."<p>

The owner of the voice was Principal Samejima, head of the entire school. He was a tall and imposing man, his head shaved bald, with dark gray eyebrows that matched with his lock beard. Despite his imposing looks, however, he had a friendly and kind expression on his face. He used a yellow shirt and a red tie, both of them barely visible thanks to the large wine-red coat he used.

Every first-year was assembled at one of the main classrooms at the academy. In front of them, the various teachers that would be guiding them during the next three years. Judai looked around him, Sho was just in front of him, and he also spotted Daichi Misawa, the other student he had befriended during the Entrance Exams. Unlike him, he was wearing a Ra Yellow uniform.

He then returned his attention to the teachers. He spotted Midori-neesan. He was glad she was his headmaster; it had been a while since the two of them had hung out, especially after she had became a teacher here at Duel Academia last year. He really missed to spend time with her, and Koyo-san... no, no. Not the time to get depressed. Judai smlied internally when he glanced Daitokuji-sensei. He was wearing a red coat, obviously not comfortable with it. He assumed he would take it out as soon as this was over. He was also able to spot Chronos-sensei, who was giving him a funny look.

"Therefore..." said Principal Samejima, somehow gaining Judai´s attention again, "remember that you are here to become Professional Duelists. Just being in here already makes you part of the Elite of the entire country. Be proud of yourselves, and work hard in order to become even better." Judai smiled, he seemed to be a really nice guy.

After Samejima´s speech was over, everyone gave a strong applause, and headed directly towards classes.

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><p>As Judai and Sho finished classes, they headed directly towards their room. Judai was really excited, and wanted to have his first official duel at school.<p>

"Why are you in such a hurry, Big Bro?" asked Sho. "We can have as many duels as we want from now on."

"What are you talking about? This is Duel Academia, we are supposed to be dueling, right?" asked Judai, searching for his Duel Disk.

"But it´s only the first day, and we have a lot of things to do. Daitokuji-sensei sent us that project about Card Spirits, and also the many other assignments we have to do."

"Relax, Shou." said Judai. "I´m not saying we arent going to do them, I´m just saying that dueling is the most important here, so we might as well start right now."

"Big Bro..." sighed Sho.

"Keep thinking like that, and you will end up dropping out easily." said a gruff voice from the top bunkbed. Both Judai and Sho turned to see the owner of that voice. It was a chubby young man, who had a senior-red jacket. He had a big nose, and bushy black hair to the sides of his head.

"Ko-koala?" asked Sho, scared.

"Who are you calling a koala!?" replied angry the other student.

"So-sorry." apologized Sho.

"Your name... was Hayato, right?" asked Judai. They had met Hayato yesterday, when they moved to this room, as he was their new roommate. However, he had only presented himself, and only said a few disheartening things about Slifer Reds being at the bottom of the totem and then turned to sleep.

"Yes. So what?" asked Hayato, desinteresed.

"Why are you so angry?" asked Judai. "Arent you excited to be in here? Another new year begins, after all."

"Why would I be excited about that?" complained Hayato. "A repeat like me sees a new year as a nightmare, not as something nice."

"Repeat?" asked Sho, confused.

"Yes, I am a second year repeat." admitted Hayato. "You need to have participated in a certain amount of duels and have won at least a few of them to be able to pass to the next year. I didnt."

"Eh?" asked Sho, worried. This wasnt good, Sho had to admit he wasnt very confident in his abilities, so he wanted to avoid dueling as mush as possible, but that didnt seem like an option now.

"Well, all the more reason to go out and duel, right?" said Judai.

"No, it isnt." replied Hayato. "Being a Slifer Red means every student at the academy looks forward to fight against us for easy-wins, so the ones who arent that good only add more and more defeats to their record. That is why I failed last year, I even tried to avoid those who fought against me only because I am a Slifer Red, but I couldnt pass."

"That is harsh..." said Sho.

Judai just frowned. "But duels arent about winning or not, it is about having fun while dueling."

"If you think that way, then just go outside and lose as many times as you want." said Hayato, turning to sleep once again.

Judai just saw him with worry. "Let´s go, Sho." said Judai, while placing his Duel Disk on his arm.

"Huh? Sure." said Sho, leaving the door, with Judai behind him.

However, just before leaving, Judai stopped in the door, and looked back towards Hayato. After a little debate on his head, he ran towards Hayato´s bed and dragged him out of it.

"What are you doing!?" asked a surprised and annoyed Hayato.

"You are coming with us." said Judai. "I´m gonna show you that dueling is about fun, and not about records or things like that."

"I told you already, I´m not interested." protested Hayato.

"Now, now, dont say that." said Judai, smiling. With Hayato still protesting. "Let´s go."

"Big Bro..." sighed Sho, sweatdropping.

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><p>Hayato was not pleased. How was he convinced to leave from the room by those two? He will never know. However, he could at least show his discontent by making an angry face.<p>

"Come on, Hayato-kun. Dont get mad. Besides, Big Bro is a good duelist, I´ve seen him before." said Sho, trying to cheer his sempai.

"Why is he in Slifer Red, then?" asked Hayato, sighing. "Why do you follow him around, anyway?"

"Huh? Well..." stuttered Sho, a little surprised by the question. "I´m not sure, but he is always positive and smiling, so it makes me feel more confident, I guess. He is always telling me things will be OK, and it feels like things would actually be that way."

"So?" shouted Judai, excitedly, "where can we find someone to duel against?"

"If you are looking for a fight, Red-kun, you are at the right place." said a confident voice. All three students turned to see two tall Ra Yellow students. "This place is a popular spot for dueling: you have a nice arena, trees around you, and even the spectators have a nice view from that rail."

"Red-kun?" asked Sho, with a funny face. "Oh, Misawa?"

"Oh, you two." said Misawa, seeing both Judai and Sho. "Good timing."

"Ah, Hayato!" said the other Ra Yellow, with short and spiky black hair, his jacket open showing a black t-shirt and a white collar on his neck. He started to run towards the chubby Slifer Red. "It´s been a while." he said, while putting his arm around Hayato´s neck.

"Hunn..." replied Hayato, seemingly uncomfortable.

"Say, Hayato. Could you do me a favor? There is something I wanted to ask you. I have this itch for a duel, you know... And I was looking for someone with certain card..." said Shinichi to Hayato, making both Sho and Judai jump at their places.

"Is this what he meant?" asked Sho.

"Hey! Leave Hayato alone!" said Judai, towards the Ra student.

"Huh? Who are you?" asked the Ra student.

"He is Judai Yuki. The rookie who defeated Chronos-sensei at the Entrance Exam Duel." said Misawa, entering the conversation.

"Oh, great timing. What a coincidence" said Shinichi, with a smile.

"That is what I was trying to tell you before..." sighed Misawa.

"Say, Red-kun;" smiled Shinichi towards Judai, "would you like to duel against me?"

"Duel?" asked a confused Judai.

"I told him about you defeating Chronos-sensei and your cards, and he just couldnt wait to fight you. By the way, his name is Shinichi Ueda, a second-year student at Ra Yellow together with me." explained Misawa.

"So you are the one who defeated Chronos-sensei." said a female voice. Everyone turned to see a tall, blonde girl, dressed in a white and blue uniform, which meant that she was an Obelisk Blue student.

"Oh... arent you Tenjouin Asuka?" asked Shinichi.

"Yes, I am." replied the blonde girl. She turned with a displeased face towards Shinichi. "I´m a new student in here, however. How do you know me?"

"That, well..." replied nervously Shinichi, "I met your brother, and he used to talk about you."

"Oh... I see." was Asuka´s reply, her face turning softer, and a little sad. Both Sho and Misawa watched this change on her expression, and couldnt help but blush.

"_Her expression changed so fast... She is really pretty._" thought Sho.

"_She is... my first crush..._" fantasized Misawa.

"You shouldnt lower yourself to talk with those losers, Tenjouin-kun!" said a male voice from elsewhere. Everyone turned to see another Obelisk Blue student, with long, spiky black hair, with a blue coat. "Being around a drop-out might even affect at the long run."

"Manjoume..." replied Asuka, with a displeased face.

"So that is Jun Manjoume?" said Misawa. "Number 1 graduate from Duel Academia´s Middle School."

"Huh? Really?" asked Sho.

"What is it, are you scared of me, Yellow?" asked Majoume, a confident smirk on his face.

"Here we go..." whispered Asuka.

"None at all." replied Misawa, confidently. "After all, I am the Number 1 Rookie, Daichi Misawa."

"Oh?" said a surprised Asuka. To think that she had met him on their first day, just like that.

"Well, well, arent we cocky?" asked Manjoume. "I bet you are really anxious to duel me to test out your capabilities, huh?"

"None at all." replied Misawa. "The one I want to fight is actually him." said Misawa, turning to Judai.

"Huh? Me?" asked a surprised Judai.

"Yes. The way you defeated Chronos-sensei was really impressive. I think you could make for a great rival, Judai."

"_He... he defeated Chronos-sensei?_" asked himself Hayato, really surprised.

"Wait! You are the one who defeated Chronos-kyouto?" asked Manjoume, seemingly irritated. "All right, drop-out! Duel me here and now!"

"Huh?" asked Judai, all this conversation was making him dizzy.

"Hold on a minute, rookie!" intervened Shinichi, "I already asked him to duel me before you arrived, so he has to duel against me!"

"Get lost, you Ra loser!" spat back Manjoume.

"Manjoume!" said Asuka, in a displeased tone.

"Seems that rumors about you and your family are true. You do as you please, and think you can order everyone around just because you have money." snarked Shinichi.

"Why, you!?" growled Manjoume, clearly not happy about that commentary.

"Now, now, everyone calm down." said Judai, trying to control the situation. "I would love to duel against all of you, but it is true that Shinichi here asked me first. Dont worry, thought; I can always duel against all of you."

Everyone gave him a weird look, but then seemed to calm down. Shinichi just cheered Red-kun and his sense of honor. Misawa and Asuka only smiled.

"Tch. Do as you please." cursed Manjoume, leaving the field for both Judai and Shinichi in a bad mood. The latter was gloating his victory towards him all the way, which didnt make him any favors.

Misawa, Asuka and Sho all started to walk towards the side of the arena, to have a better look. Hayato, however, turned towards Judai. "Judai, dont do this! You are going to lose!"

"What are you talking about? We wont know until I try." replied Judai.

"Of course we know. You are a Slifer Red, he is a Ra Yellow student." replied Hayato. "You will end just like me."

"Calm down, Hayato. Besides, win or lose, it´s all about having fun." smiled Judai in reply. Hayato didnt know how to answer that. He just turned, and then hurried towards the others were.

"I wonder if Big Bro will be fine." asked Sho, worried.

"Well, let´s hope he lives up to his legend, shall we?" replied Asuka. "My name is Asuka Tenjouin, by the way."

"Sh-Sho Marufuji." replied meekly the shorter Red student.

"I-I- am Daichi Misawa." presented himself Misawa.

"It´s a pleasure, Misawa-kun." replied Asuka. "I´ve heard you are really good."

"Ah- well..." replied Misawa, nervously.

"Tell me, what do you think about this duel?" asked Asuka.

"Huh?" asked Misawa, a little taken back. However, his brain quickly processed an answer, so it was better to try to reply quickly before his nerves betray him. "This will be an interesting duel, I think." said Misawa. "Not only because of seeing Judai, but because of what I´ve heard, Shinichi-sempai is also a very good duelist."

"Really?" asked Asuka, surprised. "Well, then I guess we will have to see which one is the better duelist." she smiled, turning towards the arena. Once again, Misawa blushed.

Back at the arena, Judai and Shinichi smiled. Both of them were anxious for this duel.

"DUE-" yelled Judai, before being interrupted by Shinichi.

"Wait!" ordered Shinichi. Judai almost fell down.

"What is it now?" asked Judai.

"Sorry." apologized Shinichi, while removing the collar in his neck, and gently put it in the floor. "Almost forgot to take it out. That could have been dangerous."

"What was that about?" asked a confused Judai.

"Well..." said Shinichi, "let´s just say it´s an habit of mine to bring me good luck."

"Weird." said Judai, already getting impatient. He only wanted to duel quickly.

"All set." said Shinichi, activating his Duel Disk. "Let´s go!"

**DUEL!**

**Judai´s LP: 4000**

**Shinichi´s LP: 4000**

"So, why dont you begin, Red-kun?" asked Shinichi, with a smug grin on his face.

"If you say so." replied Judai, while dramatically drawing his sixth card. "First, I´ll summon **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist* (Dark/Lv. 4/Warrior-Type/ATK 1000/DEF 1500)** in Defense Position. The image of a female warrior, clad in a black armor, whose hair was impossibly following in a horizontal straight line as a helmet. "Then I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"_Hero deck? Then that means he doesnt have that card... Of course he doesnt. I shouldnt have assumed so. Still..." _Shinishi let out a sigh. "Eeh? A Hero deck? How boring." said Shinichi.

"What are you talking about?" asked Judai, suddenly frowning. "Are you looking down on my deck?"

"Not really." answered bluntly and mockingly Shinichi. "It´s just that I was expecting to see that rare card of yours, but if it actually is only another Hero, then I guess... how should I say it," however, his tone was now more serious, "this would be a huge letdown."

Judai couldnt help but get mad at such a comment, surprising Sho, watching from the sidelines. "Big Bro got mad." said Sho worriedly.

"Anyone would get mad if someone would look down on their decks, especially without even playing a single card." added Asuka.

"He is looked upon in Ra Yellow as a very good duelist." commented Misawa, "Maybe it´s just a rumor."

"It isnt a rumor." said Hayato, surprising Sho and the others. "It´s just his strategy. He always gets inside the minds of his opponents before a duel can actually start properly. That way, he gains a psychological advantage."

"That´s mean." said Sho.

"Not only that, but also quite under-handed." added Asuka.

"_He is going to lose... I warned him... yet._" thought Hayato to himself.

Back at the duel, Judai was shooting Shinichi a hard glare. Shinichi just sighed and shrugged it off. "Tch. There´s no need for you to get this pissed off. Just because your deck is weak it doesnt mean you cant build another from scratch, you know?"

However, this seemed to piss off Judai even more. "_This deck... What this deck means to me is very important. And he is telling me to just throw it away?_" "I will not allow you to make fun of my cards!" yelled Judai, mad.

Shinichi then drew a card. "Ok, ok, I get it. Jeez! Enough talk, then. Draw!" He then gazed upon his hand and smirked. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card **Mystical Space Typhoon**! I will destroy your little set card." A tornado appeared from Shinichi´s card and destroyed Judai´s set card, revealing it to be **Hero Barrier**.

"Next, I will activate the Spell Card **Shien´s Smoke Signal**!" announced Shinichi. "This card allows me to select a Level 3 or lower "Six Samurai" monster from my Deck and add it to my hand. I´ll chose **Elder of the Six Samurai** and then I activate its effect. When you control a monster in your field and I don´t, I can Special Summon it from my hand." Shinichi then summoned **Elder of the Six Samurai (Earth/Lv. 3/ATK 400/DEF 0)**, so the image of a traditional japanese carrier mobilized by four mechanical legs, which held a kneeling old man on it appeared on the field.

"But this isnt over yet," added Shinichi, "I will activate the effect of **Grandmaster of the Six Samurai (Earth/Lv. 6/Warrior-Type/ATK 2100/DEF 1800)** which allows me to Special Summon it from my hand as long as there is any other "Six Samurai" I control on the field." A seasoned warrior with long gray hair, a red patch on his left eye and a long sword appeared on the field. "But since those two were Special Summoned, I can still Normal Summon another monster, and I choose **The Six samurai - Zanji (Light/Lv. 4/Warrior-Type/ATK 1800/DEF 1300)** in Attack Position." And then a samurai warrior with a black armor with orange tron lines around it, holding a yari* with him appeared.

"Three monsters in a single turn!?" asked Sho, seeing such an incredible accomplishment.

"Incredible." added Misawa. "To be able to not only summon 3 monsters, but also to make sure that when they attack there will be no trap to stop him is indeed quite the feat."

"Ready for a welcome-beatdown, Red-kun?" asked Shinichi. "**Zanji**! Destroy **Shadow Mist**!" after Judai´s monster was destroyed, his field was left empty. Leaving him open for a direct attack. "Now, I use my other monsters in order to attack you directly!"

**Judai´s LP: 4000-1500**

**Shinichi´s LP: 4000**

"Heh! Just as I thought, he is nothing but an Slifer drop-out!" snarked Manjoume. "Shame he is going to lose so soon; I wont be able to confirm if he actually has that card."

"Turn End." added Shinichi. "Your turn, Red-kun. Make it count."

Judai glared at Shinichi, but then smiled.

"What´s wrong with you?" asked Shinichi.

"Nothing. It´s just that I´m having a lot of fun." replied Judai.

"Fun?" asked Shinichi. "You are losing the duel, you know?"

"So?" replied Judai, "That doesnt mean i cant enjoy myself, right?"

"You are a little weird, arent you?" asked Shinichi, casually. Judai just smirked.

"Weird? Who is he calling weird?" protested Sho. "The one who has all these strange quirks is Shinichi-san. He is the one who is strange, not Big Bro!"

"I heard that!" yelled Shinichi from the field.

"Meeeeeep!" shrieked Sho, before hiding behind Misawa.

"I think both of them are quite weird, if you ask me." added Hayato.

"My turn! Draw!" Judai drew his fifth card. "I activate **Pot of Greed**! This card allows me to draw two cards from my deck." He then drew two card and inspected his hand. "_Perfect!_" "Time to show you the real strength of my deck! I activate **Polymerization**! I will combine the **Elemental HERO Avian** and **Elemental HERO Burstinatrix** in my hand, to Fusion Summon my favorite monster! **Elemental HERO Flame Wingman**!"

Elemental HERO Avian briefly appeared in the field, accompanied by Burstinatrix, a female hero with ash skin, black hair in dreadlocks and a revealing red suit, only for both of them to jump into a vortex to create another monster. Then, **Elemental HERO Flame Wingman (Wind/Lv. 6/ Warrior-Type/ATK 2100/DEF 1200)** was summoned in the field. A humanoid monster with a beast-like mask with green and black skin, with a red lizard-like tail, a single white wing on his back and a huge and monstrous red face at the end of his right arm.

"But I´m not done!" yelled Judai. "I activate **Miracle Fusion**! This card allows me to banish two monsters from either the field or the Graveyard to Fusion Summon another monster! And I remove both **Avian** and **Burstinatrix**!"

"You are bringing another of those!?" asked Shinichi, clearly worried.

"How could I show the flexibility of my Heroes if did that?" asked Judai.

"What?" asked Shinichi.

"Come forth! **Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer (Fire/Lv. 6/Warrior-type/ATK 2100/DEF 1200)**!" commanded Judai, and so, another hero came forth. Somewhat similar to Wingman, however, his body was black with red details, two wings, and the lower part of his mask showed him as a human, with a green crest covering his eyes and head. "And since both of those were Special Summons, I can still Normal Summon!"

"Tch!" cursed Shinichi.

"I Summon **Elemental HERO Sparkman (Light/Lv. 4/Warrior-type/ATK 1600/DEF 1400)**!" said Judai, as his third hero appeared in the field. A male hero with a full-body blue suit, with a golden chest-plate with two vehicle wings in his back and a blue glass visor. "**Sparkman**! Attack and destroy **Elder of the Six Samurai**! Spark Flash!" Sparkman shot a burst of electricity towards Shinichi´s monster destroying it.

**Judai´s LP: 1500**

**Shinichi´s LP: 4000-2800**

"Now! **Phoenix Enforcer** will attack **Grandmaster of the Six Samurai**!" declared Judai.

"Then, our monsters will only destroy each other as they have the same ATK." said Shinichi.

"Sorry, but the Monster effect of Phoenix Enforcer is that he cant be destroyed in battle!" said Judai.

"No way!" said Shinichi, his eyes bolt open. Phoenix Enforcer attacked Shinichi´s monster, destroying it. However, he composed himself. "**Grandmaster**´s Monster Effect allows me to add 1 monster card with "Six Samurai" on its card name from the Graveyard to my hand when it is destroyed. I choose **Elder of the Six Samurai**."

"But you cant summon him yet." added Judai. Shinichi just gave him a hard glare. "Finally! **Flame Wingman**, destroy **Zanji**!" Flame Shoot!" commanded Judai. Flame Wingman flew high in the sky, and enveloped itself with flames, falling towards Zanji and destroying it.

**Judai´s LP: 1500**

**Shinichi´s LP: 2800-2500**

"Now! **Flame Wingman**´s Monster Effect activates! When he destroys a monster in battle, the ATK of that monster is reduced from your Life Points!" said Judai.

Before Shinichi could react, Flame Wingman was in front of him, and extended the head on his arm. He then shot a stream of fire towards Shinichi from it. "Turn end." declared Judai.

**Judai´s LP: 1500**

**Shinichi´s LP: 2500-700**

"Way to go! Big Bro!" said Sho, cheering Judai.

"What an amazing move!" commented Asuka. "He not only was able to come back, but did it in the same way that he had been attacked before."

"And he did it by reducing Shinichi-sempai´s Life Points even further that what he received." added Misawa. "I knew it. Judai´s strength is the real deal."

"A-amazing..." was Hayato´s only reaction. He couldnt believe that another Slifer Red like him was actually winning in a duel against a second-year Ra Yellow student.

"Tch. They are just showing off, now." snarked Manjoume. However, he had to accept that both of them seemed to be really good opponents so far.

Back at the battle, both Judai and Shinichi were practically fighting with their eyes, as their intense gazes were trying to bring the other down. That is, until Judai started to snicker and to laugh his heart out.

"What is it now?" asked Shinichi.

"It´s nothing." replied Judai, calming down. "It´s just that I´m having a lot of fun."

"That again?" Shinichi seemed to be confused for a few seconds, until he smiled to himself, sighing. "I guess... this is kinda fun."

"Right?" asked Judai.

"Fun! How can he have fun if he is losing the duel!" exclaimed Sho.

"Well, it is quite the exciting duel!" said Asuka, sheepishly.

"I knew he was an odd one, but to actually be having fun while he is losing a duel?" added Misawa. "Guess those two are somewhat similar in that."

"Does that make them both special?" asked Sho.

"I think that makes them both fools." sighed Asuka.

"Well, Red-kun. That was a great move." said Shinichi. "But this isnt over yet. Draw!" said the Ra Yellow student, as he drew a card. "I´ll use the Spell Card **Pot of Greed** and draw 2 cards. Next, I activate the effect of **Elder of the Six Samurai**! When you control at least 1 monster and I dont control any monster, I can Special Summon him into the field." Once again, the monster was called into the field. "Now, things get interesting. I´ll summon **Spirit of the Six Samurai (Earth/Lv. 3/Warrior-type/ATK 500/DEF 500)** in Defense Position." A samurai armor appeared in the field, wielded by an almost invisible soul.

"Those two monsters have a very low ATK!" protested Sho, "How is he supposed to fight back?"

"He must have some sort of plan." said Misawa.

"Now I activate the spell card **Six Scrolls of the Samurai**!" added Shinichi. "By tributing 2 "Six samurai" Monsters, I can Special Summon **Great Shogun Shien (Fire/Lv. 7/Warrior-type/ATK 2500/DEF 2400)** in Attack Position from my deck." A tall warrior with a full-body red Samurai armor and a black cape appeared in the field.

"Is that your Ace Card?" asked Judai.

"Yes, you could say that." replied Shinichi. "After all, when he is on the field, you are only allowed to activate either 1 Spell or Trap card each turn. Besides, with his power, I can quickly defeat your monsters. Now, **Great Shogun Shien**, destroy **Flame Wingman**!"

**Judai´s LP: 1500-1100**

**Shinichi´s LP: 700**

"Turn end." said Shinichi.

"My turn! Draw!" said Judai. However, he didnt have anything to defeat Shinichi´s Ace Card. "I´ll change my monsters to Defense Position and finish my turn."

"Seems like you ran out of luck, huh?" smirked Shinichi. "My turn! Draw! Now, I activate the Spell Card **Tremendous Fire**! It reduces my Life Points by 500 Points, but also reduces yours by 1000 points!"

"That was quite a risky move!" commented Asuka.

"He probably cant stand the fact that Judai has more Life Points that he does." said Hayato.

"However, it is reasonable. If Judai has a large advantage against him, it could be hard to deal the finish blow he is expecting." added Misawa.

"Good reasoning, Misawa-kun." said Asuka, smiling to the Ra Yellow. "That´s a good way to put it."

Once again, Misawa blushed. "It- it is nothing... really."

"Huh! What a fool!" snorted Manjoume. "He allowed that no-good drop-out drive him so far he is reducing his own Life Points."

**Judai´s LP: 1100-100**

**Shinichi´s LP: 700-200**

**"Great Shogun Shien**, destroy **Sparkman**!" After Judai´s electric hero was destroyed, the only monster left was Phoenix Enforcer. "_That monster is going to be a problem. If I cant defeat it in battle, I cant attack Red-kun directly._" "Turn end."

"My turn, then!" said Judai, as he drew another card. **Wroughtweiler.** Which meant he could bring back Sparkman and Polymerization."I set one monster in Defense Position and finish my turn."

"Set?" asked Shinichi. "_Is it a bluff? Or is it an effect monster? Dammit! Anyway, I cant let him horde monsters._"

"What is it?" asked Judai, smiling. "It´s your turn!"

"Tch." Shinichi then drew his card.

"Well, well, look who is playing intimidation now." said Asuka.

"Despite being able to summon Great Shogun Shien, Judai´s monster effects were able to throw off Shinichi´s entire game before that." said Misawa. "Especially Judai´s ability to Fusion his monsters at ease is quite troublesome to deal with. Elemental Heroes are known for their unpredictability, if used correctly."

"You go! Big Bro!" cheered Sho. "Teach that bully who´s boss!"

"Who are you calling a bully!?" yelled Shinichi, mad at the commentaries from the first years.

"Guah-" yelped Shou, hiding behind Misawa once again.

"Could you please stop doing that?" sweatdropped Misawa.

Back at the duel, Shinichi seemed to be struggling. "_I guess that even if I am left without any cards, as long as I destroy that Fusion Monster, I can always attack directly next_ turn." "Draw! I´ll activate the Spell Card **Smashing Ground**! I can destroy one monster on your side of the field with the highest DEF. And obviously, it´ll destroy **Phoenix Enforcer **as he is the only monster you have in face-up position!" A giant fist fell from the sky, destroying Judai´s monster. "Now, **Great Shogun Shien**! Destroy his face-down monster!" The General attacked and destroyed Judai´s Set Monster, revealing it to be **Wroughtweiler. **

"**Wroughtweiler**´s Monster effect activates!" yelled Judai. "When it is destroyed, I can add to my hand 1 **Polymerization** and 1 Elemental HERO from the Graveyard!" However, without neither Flame Wingman nor Phoenix Enforcer, there was no point in bringing Sparkman... unless. "And the monster I choose is **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist**!"

"What?" asked Shinichi.

"Why is Big Bro choosing that monster?" asked confused Sho.

"I don´t know. After all, Sparkman is a monster he can fuse with various other monsters." added Misawa.

"However, if he doesnt draw one of those monsters, then there is no point in choosing Sparkman." corrected Asuka.

"I guess..." said Misawa.

"I don´t know what you are planning, but it wont work." said Shinichi. "On my next turn, I will finish you. Turn end."

"We´ll have to wait and see if you make it to your next turn, thought." smirked Judai. "My turn, draw!" He then drew **Elemental HERO Ocean**. "Just what I needed."

"I activate **Polymerization**!" declared Judai. "For the Fusion Monster I´m gonna bring, I need to use any Elemental HERO and 1 Dark Attribute monster as Fusion Materials."

"So you brought Shadow Mist back for that?" asked Shinichi.

"Yes." nodded Judai.

"I see." added Misawa. "If he used Sparkman, the possibilities to draw a monster capable to Fusion Summon with him would be lower. So he raised the chances by instead bringing back Shadow Mist, since he can combine her with any Elemental Hero."

"Now! I fuse **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist** and **Elemental HERO Ocean** to bring forward **Elemental HERO Escuridao (Dark/Lv. 8/Warrior-type/ATK 2500/DEF 200)**!" yelled Judai. Both Shadow Mist and Ocean appeared briefly, only to jump towards a vortex from where this new hero appeared. The image of a figure in a black suit which appeared to be made from shadows appeared.

"What is the point of bringing a monster with the same ATK that my monster?" asked Shinichi.

"You should know by now that all my Heroes have different effects. And **Escuridao **isnt any different, as his Monster Effect gives him 100 ATK points for each Elemental HERO in my Graveyard."

"You mean...?" was only Shinichi was able to articulate. Judai only nodded. The image of Sparkman, Flame Wingman, Phoenix Enforcer, Dark Mist and Ocean appeared behind **Escuridao**, incresing its ATK from 2500 to 3000 points.

"**Elemental HERO Escuridao**! Destroy **Great Shogun Shien**!" commanded Judai. "Darkness Veil!" The entire place darkened, shrouding Shinichi´s Ace Monster in a veil of shadows, destroying it.

**Judai´s LP: 100 (Winner)**

**Shinichi´s LP: 200-0**

"I... lost." said Shinichi, surprised.

"Gotcha!" said Judai, doing his signature move of pointing towards his opponent with two fingers, "That was a fun duel!"

"Way to go, Big Bro!" cheered Sho from the sidelines. "You are amazing!" Judai answered by doing a Victory sign.

"I can´t believe it..." said Hayato, speechless. "He actually did it. He defeated a Ra Yellow student."

"That was a very intense duel." said Asuka, smiling. "He might be an interesting opponent."

"No doubt about it." added Misawa. "I knew he would do for a great rival." "_He didnt just have a lucky draw; he was able to raise the chances of him getting a good draw by bringing Shadow Mist from the Graveyard. There is more to Judai than meets the eye._" Misawa clenched his fist while holding the rail, in anticipation for his duel against Judai. Asuka somehow noticed this, curiously.

"Tch. I wasnt able to see whether he had Terra Firma or not." cursed Manjoume, leaving the place. "Anyway, there will always be more chances to crush that weakling. By now, he should enjoy his little victory." He then walked away, ignoring the other students.

As everyone walked towards Judai, so did Shinichi, now holding his pendant back on his neck. He then extended his hand towards Judai, who replied the gesture. "Great work there, Red-kun."

"Thanks. It was a really good duel, Shinichi." replied Judai.

"Next time, it wont be that easy." said Shinichi.

"I can´t wait for it." smiled Judai.

"Now, you´ll have to promise to stop bullying Hayato-kun!" exclaimed Sho.

"Bullying?" asked Shinichi, "what are you talking about?"

"The way you were talking to Hayato, asking him for favors." said Judai, "It seemed as if you wanted something from him."

"Something?" asked Shinichi, curiosity on his face. "Oh, yes. I wanted to ask him to show me the way to Red-kun here. I really wanted to fight him, so I wanted to ask Hayato, as both of you are from Slifer Red."

"Eh?" asked Sho, confused. "Doesnt he always bully you?"

"Bully me?" asked Hayato. "He might be a little straightforward, but he´s a nice guy. When he tries."

"Hey! Hey! Feelings!" snarked Shinichi. "Anyway, I already battled Red-kun, so the misunderstanding is all cleared up, right?"

"Judai." said Misawa, "That was a great battle. I hope we can also fight someday."

"Of course." smirked Judai. "We cant even fight now, if you want to."

"Not yet." denied Misawa. "I still have to analyze your deck in order to be able to fight you correctly. Besides, it would be unfair, as I have seen your deck but you havent seen mine."

"Huh? How boring." protested Judai. "Besides, if I saw your deck, it would take away the excitement of fighting, wouldnt it?"

"Judai." said Asuka, in an almost stern voice, "Every duelist is different, so you shouldnt criticize their style." she then changed to a more friendly note, "Besides, I wish to prepare my deck to fight against you too." Judai smiled in anticipation.

"I get it." replied Judai. "Huh? What was your name?"

"Oh, right. My name is Asuka Tenjouin." replied the blonde girl.

"Asuka? Got it." smiled Judai. "We will surely duel sometime, Asuka."

She was a little taken back from his sudden familiarity (and both Sho and Misawa seemed no short of scandalized). However, seeing that silly smile of his, she just sighed and let it pass. It seemed this just was the way he was.

"You people getting ready for duels. You really make me sound like a rookie, rushing head into a battle." complained Shinichi.

"There might be a reason for that, right?" snarked Sho.

"All right, rookie. That´s it. You and me, right now!" challenged Shinichi to Sho.

"What!? No way!" yelled Sho, scared. Everyone else laughed.

_Unknowingly, Judai and the others had created a bond that would allow them to grow as duelists and people, and will help them in the future to face against imminent peril._

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><p>END CHAPTER 2.<p>

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

***Elemental HERO Shadow Mist; Manga-Only Card; (Dark Attribute/?(WarriorType in this fic)/ATK 1000/DEF 1500); No Effect.**

***yari: japanese spear sword.**

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><p><strong>AN: So... Did you guys like this? Hope so. I really liked writing this duel. As you can see, I am writing the duels in a way that every card played is noted, as not to get lose in the middle of the duel (which has sometimes happened to me while reading other fics), and I´m also detailing every move and effect, just as in the anime (and actually, the OCG rules dictate so; one skips it because it´s a bother in Real Life). Also, expect the typical commentaries for each move to be done from people in the sidelines. It will mostly be done in order to give every character a little more personality, and also detail strategies that might be used but not noted in the duel per-se.**

**I am going to have Hayato as a Second-year repeat. Which means, he should be a Third year now, but lost his confidence during two years, not one. Just a way to make him a little more believable and interesting.**

**Was Shinichi well written? I cant help but feel nervous about whether I did a good work or not. Any feedback is appreciated. I gave him a Six Samurai deck, because really, a single duel isnt enough to flesh out this deck, so I can continue to add more monsters and strategies in next duels. There were many other interesting decks that I could have used (I almost rewrote the entire duel just to give him a Prophecy deck, but its too complicated for such early in the history). In the end, I think I did a good call.**

**This chapter was written with various purposes:**

***Show off Judai´s deck. By having him Fusion Summon not one, two, but three times as I wanted to show just what he is capable of. I also wanted to give you a heads-up: Elemental Heroes will be only Judai´s signature monsters and no one else. Hence, why I added Phoenix Enforcer to his deck, and not give it to Edo. Expect some similar changes to happen to other characters´ decks further on the story.**

***Have all the other characters to be able to see Judai battle before their battle against hin. Since I didnt include all of them in last chapter, this was the perfect chance to have them seeing him fighting. Everything with a reason, of course.**

***Establish Shinichi as a character in the history, without suddenly making him a friend without even fighting someone from the gang. It would be boring and bland to do such a thing.**

**So, who will Judai fight next chapter? You´ll have to wait to see. Btw, remember, if someone knows the name of JudaixMidori, I would be really happy. See ya guys.**


	3. Ante-Duel

**DISCLAIMER: I dont own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or anything in any way; except for a few OC´s, and stuff.**

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><p><strong>AN: Third chapter is up. It was a little hard to come up with an idea to set up this duel, but I decided to just skip the filler and go straight to the point, which in most of my stories is always the character development. Not much to say here, so let´s get started.**

**P.D. if you happen to be following any of my other stories, i will update those tomorrow, as I have been working on all three of my fics simultaneously. But duels are easy to lose track of while writing, so yeah...**

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><p><strong>QA: As always, thanks to all the reviewers.**

**warrior of six blades: I will slowly develop Judai and Midori´s relationship, beginning from their normal way to act as to how they eventually become a couple. But let me warn you, it could take a while. Which is hard, as I´m used to just jump directly into the romance (but not in a rushed or stupid way... I just dont usually like to stall for long), which makes this a first for me too.**

**cypsiman2: if there is no official JudaixMidori name, then I will try to come up with something... Darklordshipping (this could also work very well for MidorixReggie), Oneesanshipping, Senseishipping, Grievingshipping (as they both grieve the comatose Koyo...), I dont know how to call them. Maybe I should start a poll? Or you can give me any suggestion or idea. If you people agree, I will get right into it.**

**Also, I am officially calling JudaixKoyoxMidori Flashbackshipping... man, I cant believe that was easier.**

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><p>GW REWRITE: THE FOUR STARS<p>

CHAPTER 3: ANTE-DUEL

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><p>It was already late in the night, yet the three Obelisk students were still up, as one of their teachers has called them for a "secret mission".<p>

"What do you think he meant by that?" asked the tallest of the three, with tan skin and spiky brown hair. Raizou Mototani.

"I dont know, stop asking!" replied some of the other students, with pale skin, greenish turquoise hair combed to a side, where it was left floating to his right side. Taiyou Torimaki.

"Keep quiet, you two!" commanded the other student, Jun Manjoume. "We are already there, so stop bickering already."

"So-sorry, Manjoume-san!" apologized Taiyou. Soon they reached the room for Chronos-sensei, and they knocked the door in order to signal their arrival.

"Please, enter." said their teacher´s voice. They complied and entered his office.

"Did you call for us, Chronos-Kyouto?" asked Manjoume, leading their group.

"Yes, please take a seat, Na No Ne." said Chronos. All three of them sat.

"Signore Manjoume, Signore Mototani, Signore Torimaki... Well, we should go straight to the point, no ne?" said Chronos, "I have a request for the three of you, Na No Ne."

"What is it?" asked Taiyou, curious.

"There is one student that I need you to duel, Na No Ne." said Chronos. This surprised both Raizou and Taiyou, thought Manjoume had some kind of idea who he was talking about. "I was thinking to just leave the little drop-out to do as he pleases, but his conduct in classes has just proved me that he doesnt deserve to be in such a prestigious academy like this one, No ne."

"You are talking about Judai Yuki, right?" asked Manjoume, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, that´s him, na no ne." replied Chronos. "What I want you to do is to defeat him in such a crushing and humiliating way, that he never wishes to see a single trading card for the rest of his life, understood?" All three of them seemed confused; sure, they knew that Chronos-sensei had been defeated by this Slider student, but to go this far. Still, as Manjoume had already seen him fight, he had understood that he had at least some little ability. Not that it would be enough to put a scratch on him. "Of course, I will reward the one who attempts to defeat him with a bunch of rare cards, na no ne."

"Rare cards?" asked Raizou, unable to hide the smirk forming on his face.

"Sure thing, but I will give those cards only to the one that is able to defeat him so bad that he has no other choice but to leave Duel Academia, No Ne. I dont care how you do it, or what methods you use... but you must do it." added Chronos. "So? Do you accept, Na No Ne?"

Raizou and Taiyou were grinning, greed written all over their faces. In order to obtain cards to boost their decks, all they had to do was to defeat some loser Duelist? It is almost too good to be true. "We accept!" both students affirmed.

"Good." said Chronos, "Signore Manjoume? What about you?"

"I accept." said Manjoume, "but I wont do it for the cards. I have my own reason for fighting and defeating that little loser!" he gripped his fist, while recalling the card he had seen in the record of his duel against Chronos-kyouto. Elemental HERO Terra Firma.

Chronos eyed him suspiciously... but he didnt really care. As long as someone defeats that little loser, he didnt care about anything else.

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><p>How would Sho describe life here at Duel Academia? Well... how would you describe High School? It´s about the same, but with card games. At least, it was for him. Which meant that he struggled with everything: from lines at lunch time, to classes, to social interaction... and as a little bonus, duels. "Man... I´m just no good at this." They were leaving classes, walking around the corridors.<p>

"What are you talking about, Sho?" asked Judai to his short friend. "You know everything there is to know about Duel Monsters! You are, like a genius or something."

"If I am a genius, why wasnt I able to answer that question from Chronos-sensei?" asked Sho, still down.

"Because you panicked and couldnt even talk to him." replied Judai. Sho sighed in response.

"I swear it, he has it against us Slifer Red students." said Sho. "And he is always glaring at you..."

"You are just imagining things." said Judai, smiling off such a crazy statement.

"It´s not just his imagination, Drop-out." said a snarky voice towars both Judai and Sho. Sho turned to see that Obelisk student from last time, Manjoume, with two other Obelisk Blue first years. They all had devious smirks in their faces, which only could mean problems. "Everyone in this Academy who has any kind of talent will look down on you Slifer Reds until you leave this place."

"Oh, arent you Manjoume?" asked Judai, remembering him from his duel against Shinichi.

"Good thing you know who you are dealing with, Drop-out." said one of the other students, Raizou. "And that is Manjoume-san to all of you, losers."

"He is not only the best graduate at Middle School, but he will become the future King of Duelists!" said Taiyou.

"That is impossible!" denied Judai.

"Oh, really? How come?" asked Manjoume.

"Because it is me who will become the next King of Duelists!" said Judai, proudly. Instead of getting mad, Manjoume smiled. Just as Sho predicted, he was here to pick a fight with Big Bro...

"Really? Well... When you steal the deck of a Professional Duelist, then I guess there is some possibility of that happening." said Manjoume, obviously provoking Judai.

"What did you just say?" asked Judai, mad at Manjoume. "This is my deck! I wont allow you to say otherwise."

"Really?" said Manjoume, "Ok, then. Remind me, then... which card did you use to defeat Chronos-kyouto?"

"Elemental HERO Terra Firma." said his pale crony.

"Ah, yeah! Terra Firma, a one-of-a-kind card!" said Manjoume, theatrically mocking Judai. "A card used by only one single person before your little spectacle at the entrance exams: Koyo Hibiki!" Judai´s glance hardened a lot. "A five-time World Champion at the Professional League, am I correct? So, tell me, how could a drop-out like you have that card if not by stealing it?"

"That card..." said Judai, unsure to share this with the other students, "it was given to me by Koyo-san!"

"Huh! Yeah, right!" snarked Manjoume.

"It´s true!" yelled Judai.

"So... if it is your card" said Manjoume, with a malicious smirk, "you wouldnt have any issue putting it on a bet, right?"

"What!?" asked Judai, surprised.

"You heard me. You and me, in a Duel, betting our rarest cards!" exclaimed Manjoume. "That way, you can prove to all of us that you are indeed the owner of that deck." He was obviously provoking Judai.

"Ante-Duel Rule?" asked Judai.

"Oh, so you do know something, after all." said Manjoume. "Tell, me, do you accept?"

"I..." seemed to hesitate Judai.

"No, he wont." said a female voice, surprising the five first-years. They all turned to see Asuka, the Obelisk blue girl they had met the other day.

"Tenjouin-kun?" asked surprised Manjoume.

"Ante-Duels are strictly prohibited here in Duel Academia, and you know that very well, Manjoume." scolded Asuka.

"Mind your own business, woman!" said Raizou.

"What!?" asked Asuka, ready to bite back at him, but...

"Shut up, you idiot!" barked Manjoume to his crony. He then turned apologetically towards Asuka. "Look, Tenjouin-kun. This drop-out has a card that a loser like he neither deserves or needs. All I want is for him to stop tarnishing the name of both the card and Koyo Hibiki."

"And who made you oh-so worthy, eh?" asked Asuka, not impressed at all with Manjoume´s explanation.

"Well, for one..." said Manjoume, until...

"I´LL DUEL YOU!" yelled Judai, surprising the other students.

"Big Bro?" asked Sho, both worried and speechless.

"Judai! Dont do it!" said Asuka, "Dont you see he is trying to provoke you?"

"I dont care!" replied Judai. "But I cant allow him to keep mocking my deck, and even less mocking Koyo-san!"

"Judai..." whispered Asuka, surprised. Was this really the same upbeat guy he had met the other day?

"Dont do it, Big Bro!" begged Sho, "What if you lose?"

"I wont lose." said confidently Judai, "Manjoume, you really want to see Terra Firma that badly? Then I shall show it you, and defeat you!"

Manjoume was also a little taken back by Judai´s sudden change, but he quickly recovered and smiled smugly again. "Good. Then we will meet here here today at midnight, in the Main Dueling arena of the Academia."

"Sure thing." said Judai, smiling smugly. "Cant wait for it." Manjoume smiled and left, followed by his two ass-kissers.

"Judai. Why did you agree to duel him?" asked Asuka. "You could lose your best card!"

"It´s Ok." said Judai, already back at his normal upbeat self. "I wont lose. I have a lot of faith in my deck."

"but..." was the only thing Asuka said. There was no reasoning with him, was it?

"Dont worry, I´ll be fine. After all, we wont know until we try, right?" asked Judai, an innocent smile on his face. "Well, I´d better go prepare my deck. See you later, Asuka." He then started to run towards his run.

"Judai! wait!" called Asuka, only to be ignored. "Man, why is he so stubborn."

"Asuka-san. Sorry for that." said Sho towards the blonde. "I still have no idea how this whole thing came to be..."

"It´s Ok, Sho-kun. Dont worry." said Asuka. "But I´m worried about him. Go and try to calm him down, OK? He must remain calm during his duel, otherwise he could really lose."

"Su-sure." said Sho. "Thanks for all, Asuka-san." he then sprinted towards his dorm. Asuka couldnt do anything but worry about those two.

* * *

><p>When Sho arrived at his bedrrom, he found Judai sitting on the floor, arms and legs crossed. He had the funniest concentration face he had ever seen. But he was too worried about Judai´s duel to pay that any attention. "Big Bro... what are you doing?"<p>

"I´m trying to come with strategies to fight against Manjoume, of course." replied Judai.

"Really?" asked Sho, impressed. He was expecting Judai to just duel Manjoume without any kind of plan beforehand. It was good to know this wasnt the case. "Then you have some idea of what Manjoume´s strategies are?"

"Nope. None at all." replied Judai flatly. Sho face-faulted. Judai just smiled while rubbing the back of his head. "Well, relax, it doesnt really matter. Knowing what his deck is only would ruin the surprise, wouldnt it?"

"Big Bro!" protested Sho, "You are fighting against the best graduate of Duel Academia´s Middle School program! An Obelisk Blue! While betting your most precious card! You must be more serious than that!"

"Hey! Relax! I´m not saying that I wont fight seriously, am I?" asked Judai. "Besides, I have to prove to him that this deck belongs to me now."

"Big Bro..." sighed Sho. "I have never seen you so mad before. What did Manjoume tell that pissed you off so much?" Sho knew this was a personal question, but he really wanted to know. How could he help him if he didnt know?

"I..." Judai turned his gaze. It seemed that this was indeed a very sore spot for him. Maybe he shouldnt pressure him this much. However, much to Sho´s surprise, he replied. "Koyo Hibiki... he is a Professional Duelist I met once at a hospital. He is the one who taught me how fun duels can really be." Sho listened closely... he had indeed heard about Koyo Hibiki, but to be honest, not much, so he was indeed curious. But most importantly, if this allowed him to know Judai better, then he would put his 100% on it. "A few years ago, he fell into a coma, and nobody has been able to explain why, or how to help him. But just before he did, he gave me his deck, hoping that I would be able to honor his cards."

"Big Bro..." said Sho. "But then, there is no need for you to fall for Manjoume´s taunts. You are using Koyo-san´s deck with his blessing; what else is there to prove?"

"There is much to prove!" replied Judai, seriously.

"Why...?" asked Sho.

"Because... this... is my deck." whispered Judai.

* * *

><p>Midori was just walking back home, when she noticed a young child sitting on the park. She quickly noticed it was Judai. His frowning expression quickly revealed he had a bad day. She decided to walk towards him.<p>

"Juu-chan? You okay?" asked Midori.

"Midori-san?" asked Judai, looking up surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Shouldnt I be the one asking that?" asked Midori, smiling. "Having a bad day?"

"Ye-yeah..." replied Judai, looking down. He was silent for a few seconds, until he decided to speak. "I... am returning Koyo-san´s deck."

"What did you say?" asked Midori, surprised and a little mad with Judai´s suggestion.

"It´s just... that I cant use it. Whenever I try to use the strategies that Koyo-san used... the deck wont answer correctly to me. I just cant make it work as Koyo-san did it. I..." Judai could have continued, but Midori gave him a knuckle to the head. "Hey! That hurts!" complained Judai.

"See? You dont have that gloomy face anymore." smiled Midori. "Dont you remember the first rule Koyo taught you about Dueling?"

"The first rule?" asked Judai, "You mean to always have fun?"

"Exactly." smiled Midori. "As long as you have fun dueling, everything else doesnt matter."

"Right..." said Judai, "However, I still dont know why I cant use Koyo-san´s deck well."

"That´s simple." replied Midori, sitting besides Judai. "Because it is Koyo´s deck, not yours."

"Huh?" asked Judai, confused.

"Judai, tell me: have you added or changed Koyo´s deck in some way?" asked Midori.

"No, I havent." answered Judai. "It is Koyo-san´s deck, I cant go on changing it."

"That´s where you are wrong, Judai." corrected Midori. "Koyo gave that deck to you, it is yours now. You can change it as much as you want to."

"But that´s..." tried to protest Judai.

"Juu-chan!" said Midori sternly, "My little brother passed that deck on to you, so you need to respect that. However, remember that each person is different, so the way their decks are built is also very different. Just because one strategy worked for Koyo it doesnt mean it is gonna work for you."

"I see..." replied Judai, hesitantly "But how can I change it?"

"Well, you have your own hero deck," said Midori, smiling "Why dont you ask them?"

"Ask them?" Judai confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, i understand that you now have new cards and that makes you excited, but remember that you spent a lot of time building your other deck. Are you just going to leave them like that?" explained Midori.

"Are you saying that I should try to combine both my old Hero deck and Koyo-san´s heroes into a brand new deck?" asked Judai, "Do you really think I could make it work that way?"

"I´m sure of it." replied Midori. "Koyo gave you his deck for a reason, and I know you can take it to the next level, Judai."

Judai smiled. If both Koyo-san and Midori-san really believed in him, then he knew he could do it. "Thank you so much, Midori-san! I am going back home to work on my deck right now!"

"That´s the spirit." replied Midori, smiling, as Judai left running. "Goodness, such a problematic guy." she sighed. She was glad that he was happy again, she loved seeing him smile.

* * *

><p>"That is the time when I decided that I couldnt just use Koyo-san´s deck as it was, so instead, I made this deck mine by fusing it with my own Hero deck." explained Judai to Sho. "I worked hard in order to build my first Hero deck, so it wouldnt have been fair to just replace them with Koyo-san´s cards. But if I fused both decks, then I would bring out the best of both of them."<p>

"Big Bro..." said Sho, amazed at such confession from his best friend.

"That is why I have to duel against Manjoume. To prove that this is my deck, and mine alone." said Judai, watching on his cards. "I must do this not only for me, but also for Koyo-san, who entrusted his cards to me, for my deck, and for Midori-neesan, who taught me that I need to pave my ow way!" He then drew the top card on his deck, that turned out to be Winged Kuriboh. "Besides, Koyo-san and Midori-neesan werent the only ones to entrust their trust in my deck either."

"_Kuri-Kuri_", chirped the card in Judai´s hand, making Judai smile in response. Sho seemed a little confused and curious about Judai´s last comment and action. Was he smiling at his card?

"SO!" said Judai, excited, "I´m gonna face Manjoume and show him the true strength of this deck!"

""Big Bro!" said Sho, excited again, "Duel him! Go tonight and win! I will support you all the way!" He was glad. Sho hadnt been wrong when he judged Judai. He knew that he was both a great person and a great duelist, and Sho was willing to follow him to hell and back and learn from him all that he could.

"Thanks, Sho!" thanked Judai, smiling.

"All right Bro!" said Sho, commandingly, "You have to know which cards Manjoume uses so you can duel him prepared!"

"What!?" asked Judai surprised, "Not fair. That´s gonna take away the excitement of dueling him." complained Judai.

"No excuses!" denied Sho, "We have a lot of studying to do!"

"What!? No way!" complained Judai, once again.

Unbeknownst to them, Midori had accidentally heard part of their conversation (luckily for them, not about betting their cards...). She wiped a tear from her left eye. "That fool. I told him not to tell anyone, yet." She then smiled and walked away.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was quite uneventful, until the night fell on the island. Asuka walked towards one of the main arenas at the main building of the Academia, where the duel would now take place. Despite her strong opinion about how this was such a stupid idea, Asuka couldnt help but come anyway. Curiosity got the best of her: who would win? Judai or Manjoume? She really wanted to know. When she entered the place, she saw that Manjoume and his two lapdogs were already in here.<p>

"Oh, Asu-chi!" said a voice, that caught her attention. Asu-chi? Only one person could come up with such a silly name.

"Shinichi-sempai?" asked Asuka turning to the seats of the place. She indeed caught sight of the second-year Ra Yellow student, who was sitting to the right of Misawa; who seemed really mad with his upper classman. "What are you two doing here?"

"Yo!" replied cheerily the older Ra, ignoring Misawa´s angry look. "We caught word of this duel, so we decided to come and check it out."

"Caught word?" asked Asuka, confused about the vagueness of such a statement. If word had spread about this, they could all be in for a lot of trouble.

"Actually, I overheard both Torimaki and Mototani talk about it, and politely demanded them to spill the beans or else I would kick their rears." replied Shinichi. Yeah, that sounded a lot more plausible. Still, this made Asuka feel a little relieved. Despite his attitude, Manjoume was a Duelist at heart, but she couldnt assure that neither of his lackeys would be a good sport on the two Slifer Red students, depending of the outcome of the duel. Having both Misawa and Shinichi-sempai was indeed reassuring to her nerves.

"Sempai! Why are you calling Tenjouin-kun as Asu-chi!?" protested Misawa, not liking the fact that he was being ignored.

"Is there something wrong with me calling her that?" asked Shinichi, curious.

"Of course there is!" protested Misawa, once again.

"It´s OK... I don´t mind..." reassured Asuka. After all, just like Judai, it seemed that Shinichi-sempai was just the kind of people who would easily get close to others... even if the other person wouldnt want to. Besides, it was way better than her other "name"...

"Oh, Asuqueen!" said a male, yet feminine voice. God, how much she hated that stupid name. She turned to see Manjoume, looking at her with a smug smile and a slight blush on his face, with both Taiyou Torimaki and Raizou Mototani, his cronies since back Middle School. Asuka rolled her eyes, and internally cursed her stupid nickname.

"Tenjouin-kun! I´m glad that you decided to come and see me moping the floor with that Slifer drop-out." said Manjoume, trying to hide his emotion at seeing the blonde girl in here. "I hope you can see this duel and realize who is the better duelist!" added Manjoume, quite boldly. Man, here we go again... Asuka was somehow aware that Manjoume had some sort of crush towards her... just as every other male student back at Middle School. Which was very one-sided too. She couldnt really tell if Manjoume really liked her, or only felt some sort of selfish possession over her. She was better not thinking too much about it...

This, however, didnt sit well with Misawa, who quickly stood on his feet. "Hey! Stop talking about Tenjouin-kun like that!"

Manjoume only smirked. "Sorry, but I wont recognize a single thing you say until I see your true strength in a Duel. Feel like it?"

"You have a duel with Judai first, Manjoume." replied Misawa. "Or maybe you are too afraid of fighting him?"

"Me? Afraid of that drop-out loser?" laughed Manjoume, "It is him who should be afraid to duel the great Manjoume-san! And seeing how he hasnt appeared yet, I assume he got scared and ran away!"

"Like I would ever run away from a Duel!" said a loud voice from one of the main doors. Everyone turned to see Judai, armed with his Duel Disk, with Sho to his left. Judai smiled, while Sho had a worried but still confident look.

"Well, well... looks like the little thief decided to show himself after all." snarked Manjoume, but Judai remained unfaced.

"Thief?" asked Sho.

"Well, if he is using someone else´s decks, how else can I call him?" snarked Manjoume.

"Manjoume! I will duel you and prove to you that this deck is mine and mine alone." said Judai, a confident look on his face.

"Big words, for a loser who is in Slifer Red." replied Manjoume.

"Well, Manjoume, are you going to keep cowering behind insults, or will you actually fight against him?" asked Misawa, gaining himself a growl from the Obelisk Blue student.

"Ready, Manjoume?" asked Judai activating his Duel Disk.

"Yeah, yeah, just dont lose too early, or this will be a waste of time." added Manjoume, activating his own Dusl Disk.

"Tch. Why does he get to duel him first?" asked Raizou, mad. "If he wins, then there will be no rare cards for us."

"Well, then I guess we have to hope for that Drop-out to do his best and defeat Manjoume-san, as improbable as that sounds." added Torimaki. "Having his arse kicked by a Slifer Red might also be a good way to bring him down of his ego trip."

"Yeah, I feel you, man!" said Mototani, grinning. "I think I´m rooting for that little Red right now." Both him and Torimaki started to snicker evilly. Manjoume turned to see them giving him a glare. "_Ungrateful dogs..._".

**DUEL!**

**Judai´s LP: 4000**

**Manjoume´s LP: 4000**

"I´ll begin!" said Manjoume, drawing his sixth card. "I´ll summon **Masked Dragon (Fire/Lv.3/Warrior-Type/ATK 1400/DEF 1100)** in Attack Position and end my turn." The image of a dragon with red and white scales, and a jackal-ish grin on his face appeared.

"My turn, then." said Judai, drawing a card. "I´ll summon **Elemental HERO Sparkman (Light/Lv.4/ATK 1600/1400) **in Attack Position!" The golden-clad hero appeared in the field. "I then activate the Spell Card **HERO´s** **Bond**! When there is a HERO in the field, I can Special Summon two other Level 4 or lower Elemental Heroes from my hand to the field. I Special Summon both **Elemental HERO Ocean (Water/Lv.4/Warrior-Type/ATK 1500/DEF 1200) **and **Elemental HERO Burstinatrix (Fire/Lv.3/Warrior-Type/ATK 1200/DEF 800)**!" As soon as he said that, the two other heroes came out to the field.

"Judai is having a solid start." commented Asuka.

"Unlike Manjoume." mused himself Shinichi.

"Let´s go! Big Bro!" cheered Sho. "He left his Monster in Attack Position, it´s your chance!"

"I doubt it is that easy." added Misawa, "I´m pretty sure he must have done that with some kind of purpose."

"Now, Sparkman! Destroy Masked Dragon, Spark Flash!" commanded Judai, as his monster destroyed Manjoume´s defenses. "Now your field is open for a Direct Attack!"

**Judai´s LP: 4000**

**Manjoume´s LP: 4000-3800**

"Seems like someone doesnt know how to play this game." snarked Manjoume. "The Monster Effect of Masked Dragon is that when he is destroyed in Battle, I can Special Summon any Dragon-type monster from my deck with an ATK of 1500 or less! And I will Special Summon a second **Masked Dragon**!" Indeed a second dragon appeared in the field, in Attack Position.

"It doesnt matter." said Judai, "Ocean, destroy his dragon." Once again, Manjoume´s dragon was destroyed. Soon, a third **Masked Dragon **appeared on the field, but this time, in Defense Position. "Burstinatrix! Destroy him with Flame Burst!" The third Dragon was destroyed.

**Judai´s LP: 4000**

**Manjoume´s LP: 3800-3700**

"Why didnt Manjoume leave that monster in Attack Position, just as before?" asked Sho, curious.

"He probably needs it to be destroyed in order to Special Summon another monster." added Misawa, "Dragons deck usually rely on strength and Attack Power, so he might want to bring a Monster to Sacrifice him."

"Or something even worse." cut Asuka.

"What do you mean?" asked Misawa.

"I´ve seen this strategy before. Judai must be careful, or Manjoume´s monsters will overwhelm him." explained Asuka.

"Now, thanks to the effect of my third **Masked Dragon**, I can Special Summon another dragon." added Manjoume.

"But you dont have any other Masked Dragons." added Judai.

"I dont need another Masked Dragon." smiled Manjoume. "The Monster I will Special Summon is **Armed Dragon LV3 (Wind/Dragon-Type/ATK 1200/DEF 900)**!" A small orange dragon, with brown armor scales and yellow-dotted eyes appeared on the field. "Watch closely, Drop-Out! This monster is the first key to my victory!"

Judai just eyed him suspiciously, but grinned and shrugged it off. "I´ll set one card and end my turn."

"Then it is my turn!" exclaimed Manjoume, "and during my Stand-by Phase, the Effect of my **Armed Dragon LV3** is activated! I can send my Armed Dragon LV3 to the Graveyard and then Level Him Up!"

"Level it up?" asked Judai, confused.

"Exactly!" relied Manjoume, "Now I can Special Summon from my deck an **Armed Dragon LV5 (Wind/Lv.5/Dragon-Type/ATK 2400/DEF 1700)** in Attack Position!" A larger, more threatening version of Manjoume´s dragon appeared, almost three times as tall as the first Armed Dragon. He had red scales, with black armor, which was covered by large metal spikes all over its body. "Now, I will activate its effect: by discarding one Monster Card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy one of your monsters with and ATK equal or less as the monster I discard. And I discard **Lancer Windwurm (Wind/Lv.4/Dragon-type/ATK 1800/DEF 1200)**, in order to destroy **Sparkman**!" The spikes in Armed Dragon´s belly started to spin quickly, similar to a chainsaw, and send razor waves towards Judai´s hero. "And now, **Armed Dragon LV5** will attack and destroy **Burstinatrix**!" The dragon charged a fireball on its jaw, and spit it towards the female hero, destroying her. "Now, I´ll set two cards face-down and end my turn!"

**Judai´s LP: 4000-2800**

**Manjoume´s LP: 3700**

"Wow, great move Manjoume!" said Judai, excited. Just as he expected, he was good. But now it was Judai´s turn to turn the tables. "But now it is time for me to show you my true strenght."

"Not so fast, drop-out!" said Manjoume, "During my End Phase, the effect of **Armed Dragon LV5** activates! If it destroyed one of your monsters during battle, I can Level him up again!"

"Again!?" asked Judai.

"Exactly!" snarked Manjoume, "Come out! **Armed Dragon LV7 (Wind/Lv.7/Dragon-type/ATK 2800/DEF 1000)**!" Now, a ferocious dragon with full body armor, twice as big as Manjoume´s previous Armed monster appeared. "This is the Ultimate Armed Dragon you are facing. There is no way you will be able to destroy him. What are you going to do now, Drop-out?"

"Tch." Judai was in a real pinch now. Manjoume´s quick summon abilities had left him cornered. "Draw!" said Judai, by adding a second card to his hand. "**Ocean**´s Monster Effect activates! During my Stand-by phase, I can return one HERO monster card from the graveyard to my hand, so I´ll return **Sparkman** to my hand, and then summon him in Defense Position!" Judai´s monster was returned to the field. "Then, I´ll change **Elemental HERO Ocean **to Defense Position, set one more card and end my turn!"

"On the defensive already?" asked Manjoume, almost chuckling. "I suppose I shouldnt have expected much from you, anyway. Now, let´s end this. I activate the Monster effect of **Armed Dragon LV7**. By discarding a Monster card from my hand, I destroy every face-up monster in your field with an ATK equal or less than the Monster I discarded."

"All of them?" asked Judai.

"Of course! My monster didnt increase only his strenght, but his Effect was improved too." snarked Manjoume. "So, I´ll discard **G****enesis Dragon (Light/Lv.6/Dragon-type/ATK 2200/DEF 1800) **in order to destroy your lame excuses of heroes!" Suddenly, many of the blades and drills in Armed Dragon LV7´s armor launched off from his body as missiles, destroying both of Judai´s wall Monsters. "You are finished! Armed Dragon LV7, attack that loser directly and end this!"

"Not so fast!" yelled Judai, "I activate my Quick-Play Spell Card **Emergency Provisions**! It will allow me to gain 1000 Life Points for each Spell or Trap Card I send from the field to the Graveyard. So I´ll send **Fusion Recovery** to the Graveyard to recover some life."

**Judai´s LP: 2800-3800**

**Manjoume´s LP: 3700**

"That wont save you from my Attack, however!" added Manjoume. Indeed, his monster attacked, reducing Judai´s Life points to a mere 1000 Points. he started to laugh. "Seems like your precious Terra Firma will soon be mine, and there is noting you can do to stop me!"

**Judai´s LP: 3800-1000**

**Manjoume´s LP: 3700**

Judai just looked down. Was he really going to lose Koyo-san´s precious card? No! he couldnt! This whole deck was very precious to him, he just couldnt go and lose his cards this way. "I..."

"Big Bro survived..." sighed Sho, as he was holding his breath during the last turns.

"Seems his drawing isnt as good as last time." said Misawa. "A shame, really."

"I warned him about this duel... I just hope he wont take it that hard." said Asuka, worried about Judai.

"Does that mean he is going to lose Terra Firma?" asked Misawa.

"Yes..." replied Asuka.

"No!" interrumpted Sho, surprising the others, "Big Bro cant lose any of his cards, for anything in the world!"

"Sho-kun?" asked Asuka.

"Even if you say that, someone has to lose." said Misawa, "and Judai is in a really tight situation."

"No!" said Sho, even more fiercely than before, "Big Bro has to win this! His deck is very important to him, he cant give up!"

"But Sho-kun..." said Asuka, softly.

"Big Bro! You can do it!" cheered Sho to his friend, "Remember that many people put their trust in your deck, so you must fight and prove that they werent wrong!"

Judai heard Sho´s words and turned to see towards his friend. "Sho?"

Suddenly, Shinichi roared. "Well said, Sho!" intervened Shinichi, "LISTEN RED-KUN!" yelled the Second-year, catching the attention of the Hero Duelist; "You cant lose this duel, ya hear me!?"

"Shinichi?" asked Judai.

"Tch, that noisy loser again." cursed Manjoume.

"Listen, this duel isnt only about you! Do you have any idea how I will look if you lose this duel!?" asked Shinichi, making everyone fall right on their faces. "I lost against you, so I know that you are a great Duelist! Now, you have to prove that to Manjoume too. There are many people who wish to duel against you, including Asu-chi and Misawa; and there also are people who look up to you!" he glanced towards Sho, "You still havent given me that rematch neither! You are forbidden to lose a single duel until you fight us all, ya hear me!?"

"a... asu... Asu-chi?" asked Judai, with a light snicker, that suddenly became loud laughter. Asuka´s face flushed as Red as Judai´s uniform for being called as that in front of everyone else. Maybe she wasnt as comfortable with that nickname as she first thought. As Judai kept laughing, he suddenly felt revitalized again. They were right, he couldnt lose, not right now. He sighed and calmed down. It was time to get serious. "Thank guys, really. That helped me out a lot! All right Manjoume, let´s continue the duel."

"It´s Manjoume-san for you! heh! Nothing will change just because your groupies are cheering on you." snarked Manjoume. With the tail of his eye, he was able to see Shinichi being hold on his seat by Sho and Misawa; he had to admit that it was good to see his idiot sempai being irritated by his commentaries and not the other way around, for a change.

"Sorry, Manjoume, but I cant lose this Duel!" said Judai, "A lot of people have helped me build this deck, therefore I cant just go and lose!"

"Hmph. It doesnt matter what you think." added Manjoume, "but if you are so obstinate about it, then why dont you just play already?"

"Ok, then. My turn!" said Judai, as he was about to draw his card. At the exact moment he touched his deck, a sense of relief and companionship came over him.

"_Kuri-Kuri!_" he heard a chirp, and smiled.

"_Huh? What the hell is that sound?_" asked himself Manjoume.

Judai drew the card, and it was indeed **Winged Kuriboh**. "I´ll set one monster and end my turn." announced Judai, as his monster was put in face-down position.

"Hmph. Nothing good, eh? Well, this duel had dragged for too long, I guess." commented Manjoume, a smug smile on his face. "Just because my Armed Dragon cant destroy your face-down monster with its effect, it doesnt mean he wont be able to destroy him in battle, and thanks to my face-down card, it will also finish you. Reverse card activate, **Dragon´s Rage**!" His card activated. "This Trap card activates when one of my Dragon-type monsters destroys one of your Defense Position monsters and the difference will be taken from your Life Points!"

"But then that means...?" asked Sho.

"Exactly." grinned Manjoume. "Now, Armed Dragon LV7, destroy his face-down monster and finish this duel. Manjoume´s Ultimate Dragon attacked Judai´s face-down monster, revealing it to be Winged Kuriboh. As the dragon destroyed Judai´s partner, this chirped as it disappeared from the field. However, Manjoume could swear that both the chirping and the monster were more real than anything he had seen in any Duel System. Not that it mattered now, as he had just won the duel. "Weak monster for a weak duelist. This duel is over."

"Really, Manjoume? Why dont you check again?" said Judai. The Obelisk Blue noted that Judai´s Life Points havent changed at all.

"Huh? How come you havent lost yet!?" protested Manjoume.

"Sorry, but the Monster Effect of Winged Kuriboh is that when he is destroyed in battle, I wont receive any further damage to My Life Points." informed Judai, a smug grin on his face.

However, what affected Manjoume the most was what he saw atop Judai´s shoulder. The image of Winged Kuriboh. What had just happened here? He saw Judai watch and smile to his Monster, as if he was thanking him for his help. "_Am I seeing things again...!?_" cursed Manjoume, and then started to tremble. He thought he was all over those things. Dammit! Dammit all!

"Deja vu!" joked Sho.

"Indeed. That monster always appears whenever Judai is about to lose a very important duel, it seems." added Misawa.

"What are you talking about?" asked Asuka, curious.

"Judai had used Winged Kuriboh before in his duel against Chronos-sensei during the Entrance exams, and it allowed him to turn the duel on his favor and win." explained Misawa.

"Really?" asked Asuka, surprised. She had assumed most of Judai´s monsters were Warrior-type, it was weird to see a monster so out of place in a Hero deck. "Do you think it will help him this time?" asked Asuka.

"That remains to be seen." added Misawa.

"How come he didnt use it against me?" asked Shinichi curious.

"Maybe because you arent that much of a threat?" snarked Sho.

"The hell you said!?" asked Shinichi, mad.

"Please, dont hit me!" said Sho, protecting himself.

"Are you two going at that again?" asked Misawa, sighing. Asuka only giggled. Somehow, she felt really comfortable with this little group they had. Despite being in the middle of a very important duel, all of them were supportive of their friend, yet also fun and nice to be with. It also helped none of them were trying to just show off in front of her and they were themselves. It had been a while since she had met people like that.

Manjoume tried to calm himself and breathe slowly. It was just his imagination all over again, and it didnt matter that Judai seemed to be seeing things too, it was all his imagination. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. This wasnt the moment to do this. "I can do this..." Judai seemed a little curious about him, but here was no way in hell he would allow that drop-out to be looking down on him. "Tch, doesnt matter." continued Manjoume, "Next turn, I will finish you, and this Spell Card will allow me to, **Level Modulation**! I can Special Summon any LV Monster from the Graveyard, however, I wont be able to activate its effect nor attack during this turn. However, you can be sure that next turn, you are over. Oh, and you can draw two cards, not that they will help you a lot." Suddenly, **Armed Dragon LV5** returned to the field.

Judai smirked. "Well, thanks to Winged Kuriboh, I now have a chance to turn the duel against you."

"Heh! Just because that weak card saved you it doesnt mean you now have some sort of chance against me." spit Manjoume, cursing the fact that Judai kept mentioning that weird card.

"Winged Kuriboh is my partner, and so is my entire deck! Thanks to them, and the cards you allowed me to draw, this isnt over yet." added Judai, at the same time that the image of Winged Kuriboh appeared above Judai´s head, seemingly mad with manjoume for calling it weak.

"_I´m seeing it again..._" thought Manjoume, both irritated and scared. "_I cant allow it to distract me..._".

Judai was a little curious. Was it just him, or did Manjoume look directly at Winged Kuriboh´s position. Was Manjoume also able to see Duel Spirits? "Manjoume? Is something wrong?"

"_Crap! he noticed..._" he calmed himself, however. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." added Manjoume, "Hurry up, will ya?"

The Slifer Red student just eyed him, curious. "My turn, draw!" said Judai, smiling after seeing his third card on hand. "I´ll use **Pot of Greed**, which allows me to draw 2 cards from my deck. Now, I´ll summon **Elemental HERO Stratos (Wind/Lv.4/Warrior-Type/ATK 1800/DEF 300)** in Attack Position!" A man with a blue suit, white pants, with a blue visor covering its face, who had attached to his back a set of airplane wings with fan propellers on it appeared in the field. "Now, I´ll activate his effect, which allows me to destroy one of your Spell or Trap cards for each Elemental HERO in my field. So I will destroy your face-down card!" Stratos leaped to the air, and his armor shot a stream of wind towards Manjoume´s set card, revealing it to be **Negate Attack **and destroying it.

"Tch." cursed Manjoume. "Still, that Hero of yours cant do anything by himself."

"Maybe, but now there is nothing stopping my Ace card from attacking you." added Judai. "I´ll activate the Spell Card **The Warrior Returning Alive**, which allows me to return 1 Warrior-type from the graveyard to my hand, and I choose **Elemental HERO Ocean**! Now I´ll use the Spell Card **Polymerization**, and fuse **Elemental HERO Ocean **and **Elemental HERO Woodsman (Earth/Lv.4/Warrior-Type/ATK 1000/DEF 2000)**, both in my hand, to Fusion Summon **Elemental HERO Terra Firma**** (Earth/Lv.8/Warrior-Type/ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**!" Then, Judai´s Ace Monster was summoned to the Field, while in a bright light and a huge amount of wind appeared in the whole place.

"What!? No way!" yelled Manjoume. "How did you manage to be able to Summon him!?"

"Well, believe me, I would have never done it without your help!" added Judai, only gaining himself a glare and a growl from the Obelisk Blue student.

"So that is Judai´s most reliable Monster, Terra Firma?" asked Asuka.

"No matter how many times I see it, it is a really impressive card." added Misawa.

Shinichi, however, seemed to be the most surprised by this card, and had his eyes glued to the Monster. "So that is... how a Legendary Planet card looks like."

"Now, I´ll activate **Terra Firma´**s effect!" declared Judai. "I´ll Tribute **Elemental HERO Stratos** in order to increase Terra Firma´s ATK by the same ammount of the tributed monster´s ATK, which makes his ATK a whooping 4300 points!"**  
><strong>

"No way!" cursed Manjoume. How had this happened?

"Now, **Terra Firma**, destroy **Armed Dragon LV7**! Final Magma Strike!" commanded Judai, as his Ace destroyed Manjoume´s strongest monster. "Turn End!"

**Judai´s LP: 1000**

**Majoume´s LP: 3700-2400**

"Damn you!" yelled Manjoume. "How did this happen!?"

"Unlike you, Manjoume, I trust in both my deck and my friends! They are the ones that allowed me to come this far!" said Judai to his friend, flashing a grin to his friends.

"heh! Like that is going to help anyone." said Manjoume, irritated by Judai´s attitude. "Duel Monsters is all about strategy, and knowing how to prepare for a duel. Your friends cheering on you have nothing to do without it."

"Then I guess that´s why your friends havent said a single thing during the whole duel, eh?" asked Judai. Manjoume looked surprised by that question; he had even forgotten those two were here. Then, out of curiosity, he turned to see those two, who were staring at him with faces of disbelief and pleasure. Disbelief, because they couldnt believe that Manjoume was having such a hard time against a loser Red. Pleasure? Because if he lost, then they would be able to get these Rare Cards, and not him.

"_Those two bastards are going to pay for this..."_ thought Manjoume. "My turn! Draw!" However, just as he touched the card at the top of his deck, he felt a sudden mild nausea and goosebumps. "_What is this...? Dont tell me this card is..._" He gulped.

"What is wrong with Manjoume?" asked himself Judai, until he felt a strange presence. He looked up to Manjoume, and was able to see some sort of shadow behind the Obelisk student. As far as Judai could see, it was a large figure, ready to show itself to fight against Judai at any moment. The intimidating figure made Judai back off a little. "_Dont tell me_ _Manjoume..._"

Manjoume started to breath a little more heavily. Was this that card? This wasnt real... No! Cards are only cards, and nothing else. Tools for his ascension to greatness! "MY TURN! DRAW!" he yelled, forcing himself to draw his card. And it was indeed the card he had predicted. **Light and Darkness Dragon**."Dammit!" he cursed. Not this all over again.

"Manjoume!" called Judai, gaining the attention from the Obelisk student. "The card you just drew; it has a spirit residing on it, doesnt it?"

"What!?" asked Manjoume. "So you can actually see it?" he then lowered his gaze, and start to say some gibberish only he cold hear and understand.

"Manjoume!?" asked Judai, now worried for the other student. "Manjoume! Dont tell me that card is somehow hurting you?"

However, it seemed this only pissed him off. "This card has been with me since the beginning! It has helped me out many times before, and is the Ace of my Deck!" yelled Manjoume correcting Judai.

"Oh, I see... Then..." trailed off Judai...

"Yes. I will now prove you that cards are only that! I activate the card **Monster Reincarnation**! By sending 1 Monster card from my hand, I can recall another one from the Graveyard to my hand, so I will discard **Light and Darkness Dragon** in order to add **Genesis Dragon** to my hand! Then I´ll Tribute **Armed Dragon LV5 **to Summon **Genesis Dragon** in Attack Mode!" A large dragon with red scales, except for white scales in its front, and spikes o the tip of its tail appeared.

"Why did you do that?" asked Judai.

"To show you that I dont need only one card to reach victory!" exclaimed Manjoume, seemingly a little calmer. "Cards and monsters are nothing but tools, so I plan to show you I dont need a specific card to defeat you, and that I dont need anyone but myself to win!"

"Manjoume..." said Judai, worried. was this Manjoume´s way to refuse his ability to sense and see card spirits?

"Now, I´ll activate the Equip Spell Card **Dragons Unite***, and equip it to my **Genesis Dragon**, incresing its ATK and DEF by 400 points for every Dragon in my field!" Now, Manjoume´s dragon had 2600, enough to destroy Terra Firma. "Genesis Dragon! destroy his Ace Card with Genesis Burst!" A golden flame was spit by the dragon, destroying Judai´s monster. "So, what are you going to do now, drop-out?"

**Judai´s LP: 1000-900**

**Manjoume´s LP: 2400**

"It all depends of the next card I draw." said Judai, looking at his deck.

"Think you can actually defeat me? Drop-out?" snarked Manjoume. "Your Ace Card is gone, what else can you do?"

"Manjoume! Unlike you, I have an unconditional trust in my deck! And no matter what happens, that wont change!" declared Judai, a confident look on his face. "My turn! draw!" He glanced at his card, and it seemed his deck had indeed answered him. "I´ll activate the Spell Card **Miracle Fusion**! Now I can Fusion Summon a monster that needs any Elemental HERO as one of its Fusion Materials by banishing its Fusion Materials from my Graveyard! And I will remove **Elemental HERO Woodsman** and **Elemental HERO Burstinatrix**, to Fusion Summon **Elemental HERO Gaia (Earth/Lv.8/Warrior-Type/ATK 2200/DEF 2600)**! This monster needs any Elemental HERO card and 1 Earth Attribute Monster to be its Fusion Materials."

A large, humanoid figure, armored in big and heavy black plates around its chest, wrists and legs. "Hah! What is that supposed to do with only 2200 ATK Points?"

"Well, for starters, its Monster Effect allows it to cut the ATK of one of your monsters by half!" explained Judai.

"What!?" asked Manjoume, as the ATK of its monster went from 2600 to 1300.

"And that´s not all, as the ATK reduced from your monster is added to Gaia´s ATK, making its ATK points go to 3500! Now, **Gaia**, attack and destroy **Genesis Dragon**!" Judai´s monster did as told, and destroyed Manjoume´s last line of defense.

**Judai´s LP: 900**

**Manjoume´s LP: 2400-200**

Manjoume was left speechless. With a single card, Judai had been able to turn the duel once again. Now, he had nothing. "I´ll activate the effect of **Genesis Dragon**!" declared Manjoume. "When he is destroyed, I can return all the dragons in my Cemetery to my deck and Shuffle it!" He did so, and prepared himself for his last turn. He had to draw something good enough to defeat Judai... otherwise. "My turn, draw!" The card that he drew was the last he needed, the last he expected, and yet, the one only card that wouldnt have surprised him to draw at all. **Light and Darkness Dragon**.

"of course..." whispered Manjoume, barely audible to everyone in the place. Judai´s friends watched with worry, while Mototani and Torimaki smiled triumphantly. "Turn end."

"Is that all?" asked Judai, mad. "Are you not even going to try!?" Manjoume didnt reply. "Manjoume... My turn, **Gaia**, attack directly!" Judai´s monster obeyed, and finished the duel with a Direct Attack to Manjoume´s Life Points.

**Judai´s LP: 900 (Winner)**

**Manjoume´s LP: 200-0**

Manjoume walked towards Judai, then took a card from his deck and gave it to Judai. Those were the rules of an Ante-Duel. The loser gives up his rarest card to the winner. Judai glanced at the card. Light and Darkness Dragon. "Manjoume... i cant..." said Judai...

"Dont you dare!" replied Manjoume. "Listen! I will get that card back, you hear me!? We will duel, and I will beat your sorry ass and get her back! You hear me!? ... but before that... I have to sort myself out."

"Manjoume..." whispered Judai. He then saw the Obelisk Blue left the place.

"Will he be OK?" asked Asuka, as she and the others had already gathered near Judai.

Judai saw the card that Manjoume gave him, and felt some sort of strong presence within it. However, it felt that this identity, she, yes, she was worried about Manjoume, but was also certain it had the strength to overcome this. "Yes, he will."

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><p>ANTE-DUEL, END.<p>

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><p><strong>Notes: <strong>

***Dragons Unite: Manga-Exclusive Card; Equip Spell Card; Effect: This card can only be Equipped to Dragon-type Monsters. Increase the ATK and DEF of the equipped monster by 400 ATK points for every Dragon-type monster you control.**

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><p><strong>AN: Third chapter is over. Hoped you liked it. The first scene was something I added at the end... It just came up, and it was a good way to show Chronos as the antagonist (though I have always seen him as nothing but a Sitcom villain...); and it also gave me a good reason to include Manjoume´s cronies into the story. They seem like perfect fodder to duels, (I mean, it´s either them or talking monkeys...). I was really trying to find both a way to introduce Chronos to the story as a pest, and use those two as antagonists too. Somehow, this idea came to me, and both my problems were solved. **

**As you can see, this duel is really important, not only to Judai, as it also begins the whole cycle of Manjoume´s character development and also companionship between the group. Hope it all makes sense and it sparks your interest on what is going to happen next.**

**Anyway, as always, every kind of question, review or suggestion is more than welcome. Did you like those silly names for JudaixMidori? Anyway, any kind of feedback is appreciated. See you later.**

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><p>EDIT: I changed Manjoume´s last turn. Genesis dragon has an effect that i forgot to take into account writing the duel, so i rewrote that single turn in order to give more impact to Manjoume´s loss.<p> 


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